A rare autograph letter signed - photo 1
A rare autograph letter signed - photo 2
A rare autograph letter signed - photo 3
A rare autograph letter signed - photo 4

A rare autograph letter signed

Lot 186
28.01.2025 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 8 190
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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Archive
ID 1360903
Lot 186 | A rare autograph letter signed
Estimate value
$ 4 000 – 6 000
TOUSSAINT, Pierre (1766-1853). Autograph letter signed ("P. Toussaînt"), to [Mary Anne Sawyer] Schulyer, New York, 18 December 1828.

In French. Three pages, bifolium, 230 x 180mm (lightly toned in spots, occasional marginal wear). With integral transmittal leaf addressed in his hand. Custom green morocco clamshell box.

An extremely rare letter form Pierre Toussaint, the formerly enslaved New York high society hairdresser and philanthropist, who has been proposed for canonization as the first African-American male saint. Born enslaved in what is now Haiti, Pierre Toussaint received an unusually robust education. He came to New York in 1787 when his enslavers, Jean Bérard and his family, fled the revolution led by Toussaint Louverture. There, Bérard apprenticed him to a hairdresser, and Toussaint soon became highly popular among New York's social elite, including the powerful Hamilton, Schuyler, and Church families. Toussaint had been permitted to retain most of his earnings for himself, which enabled him to support Bérard's widow and family following Bérard's death in 1790. Manumitted from slavery following the widow's death in 1807, Toussaint flourished in his profession and was able to purchase the freedom of family members, including his wife, Juliette Noel (c.1786-1851), while also becoming an important philanthropist. He supported numerous Catholic charities. He helped raise funds for St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, while supporting orphanages and schools, and assisting Haitian immigrants in the city with banking and employment services. His 1853 funeral was attended by a thousand people. In the 1950s a campaign began for his beatification and in 1996 he was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II.

The present letter is a testament to Toussaint's prominent place in New York Society, demonstrating the charm that drew so many of New York's most powerful women to treat him as a confidante. These included Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and her sister-in-law (one of his dearest friends), Mary Anne Sawyer Schuyler. Toussaint opens the letter rejoicing that Schuyler's step-daughter, wife of the Chancellor of New York, had recently been (in translation) "happily delivered” of a baby girl, “whom I salute with all my heart”, and jokes, “Toussaint counts upon dressing her hair some 16 years hence, God willing.” (Fascinatingly, the "baby girl" mentioned here was Catharine Schuyler Jones, who would later defy her Protestant family by becoming a Catholic nun, and founded a home for "friendless" girls.) He writes of a visit by Mrs. Schuyler’s “amiable and charming” son William, who had graciously presented him a “beautiful ring”). He also reports the receipt of a letter from Mrs. Cruger “that good angel”, one of the wealthiest New York widows, who “I assure you … loves you very much, and … has good reason to do so.” After commenting on their mutual invitation to a "fete," hosted by "Madame Jay," most likely John Jay's daughter Ann (1783-1856), he offers his compliments from the widow of a French émigré who ran a boarding school attended by the children of New York's elite, and the respects of his own family.

Rare. Only five other letters by Toussaint are known extant, and those are held by the New York Public Library. This is the only letter from Toussaint that has appeared at auction according to RBH.
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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