To Benjamin Franklin from Anne-Catherine de Ligniville Helvétius, [1782?]
From Anne-Catherine de Ligniville Helvétius
AL: American Philosophical Society
ce lundi [1782?]5
Mon cher, ami je Comte vous avoire adiné mecredi, avec votre enfant, jespere avoire Mr. le Comte destin [d’Estaing] bonjour je vous embrasee de toute mes force, elle sont bien grande pour vous.
Proposé a Mr. de chaumon de venire je ne lui donnerai que du rie, et de la gelée.
Addressed: a Monsieur / Monsieur franklin
5. I. Minis Hays catalogued this letter as [1782] and we leave it tentatively under that date, although we now realize that it could have been written earlier. The dating hinges on when d’Estaing was in Paris. He returned to France in January, 1781, and stayed until early November, 1782, when he left for Spain. He was back by the end of April, 1783; if the “enfant” mentioned in the present letter refers to BFB rather than WTF, this letter would date from after BFB’s return from Geneva in July, 1783.