Letters describing life in England, 1790

Manuscript, in a single hand with numerous corrections, of a collection of 15 letters describing life in England, translated into French, possibly from German. The letters discuss English lotteries; the proliferation of newspapers; the constitution and the difficulty of reconciling ideology with practice; Parliamentary elections; literary societies; and the nobility. One letter describes and deplores the cruelty of amusements such as hunting, cock-fighting, and "combats des gladiateurs"; another letter mocks an English law against the illegal wearing of buttons. A letter dated December 14, 1790 discusses the possibility of the abolition of the slave trade; the author declares it is the most talked-of subject of conversation and expresses his astonishment that the trade still exists

The letters are followed by a lengthy essay explaining the Women's March on Versailles on October 5-6, 1789. The volume is prefaced by a note by the translator, who criticizes the motives of many travel writers; says that he was drawn to this letter-writer for his curiosity and interest in humanity; and explains that the writer published two volumes, the first of letters written in Paris and Versailles during the revolution in 1789, and the second of letters in England