ID 1109105
Lot 304 | Madame de Staël (Anne-Louise Germaine, Baronne de Staël-Holstein, 1766-1817)
Estimate value
£ 2 000 – 3 000
Autograph letter to [Joseph Marie, baron de] Gérando, n.p., ‘8 brumaire’ [?31 October 1803]
In Swiss French. 4 pages, 240 x 186mm, bifolium. Provenance: Christie’s New York, 18 May 1984, lot 67.
‘Our sanctuary: the realm of thought’. Madame de Staël’s thoughts on Kant and her reflections on questions of the senses and immortality. ‘The crux of the matter is to ask the essential question of Kantism itself. I do not like forms, categories, or neologisms. But there is an underlying idea which strikes me and which agrees completely with my inner feeling: there is something more to our moral being than the ideas which come to us through our senses. Were two children to be isolated from birth until the age of 10, as the Egyptians did, trying to discover the primitive language, their ideas would be quite different, as would be their manner of sensing … Kant’s system offers me yet another glimmer of light on the question of immortality, and I prefer this glimmer to all material illuminations … What I like about philosophy is that it examines everything according to reason, but I do not bind myself to considering any particular system as being the only one worthy of the name “philosophy”. The people who are anti-philosophy are those who say that we have a reason which we mustn’t wear out, and who wish to preach despotism within the confines of our sanctuary: the realm of thought.’ She praises the work of Charles de Villers but criticises his ‘anger against the encyclopaedists; one should respect the men who delivered us from superstition … but I think, as he does, that they could have had more influence had they supported natural religion, which alone can deliver us from fanaticism’.
Artist: | Madame de Staël (1766 - 1817) |
---|---|
Place of origin: | Switzerland |
Artist: | Madame de Staël (1766 - 1817) |
---|---|
Place of origin: | Switzerland |
Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preview |
| |||||
Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |||||
Buyer Premium | see on Website | |||||
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase |
More from Creator
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.