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Collection Overview

Creator:
Brown, Francis C. (Francis Cabell), 1936-
Title:
Francis C. Brown Collection of French Royal Marriage Contracts
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/db78tc08m
Dates:
1607-1846
Size:
33 Volumes and 2.7 linear feet
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of 32 bound volumes, each containing an original, French, royal marriage contract with supplementary biographical sketches and portraits of the witnesses who signed the contracts, collected by Francis C. Brown (Princeton Class of 1958). The first two volumes are alphabetical catalogues of the marriage contracts

Collection Description & Creator Information

Description:

The collection consists of 32 bound volumes, each containing an original, French, royal marriage contract with supplementary biographical sketches and portraits of the witnesses who signed the contracts, collected by Brown (Princeton Class of 1958). The contracts span the years 1607-1846, from the reign of Marie de Medicis to Louis Philippe, linking various members of the King' and Queen's courts and the noble houses in France (i.e., House of Bourbon), such as the marriage of Antoine Potier to Anne d'Aumont (1620) and Louis, Marquis de Vieuville, to Marie Fouquet de Belleisle (1722). Many of the contracts were signed by the reigning sovereigns and other nobility, such as Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, Charles X, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, Anne of Austria, Marie de Medicis, Armand Jean du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, and Henri Jules de Bourbon.

Arrangement

Contracts are arranged chronologically, one to a volume.

Collection Creator Biography:

Brown, Francis C. (Francis Cabell), 1936-

Francis C. (Cabell) Brown was born on Jan. 6, 1936, and graduated from Princeton University in 1958 with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School. He attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 1961. He is currently an attorney in New York City.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Gift of Francis Brown, Jr. '58 in 1980.

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Credit this material:

Francis C. Brown Collection of French Royal Marriage Contracts; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/db78tc08m
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
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