Letter from J. P. to Jn Mᵉ Frachon (1840)

NRA-L-000590 / 1840

Letter from J. P. to Jn Mᵉ Frachon, 1840-02-15

J. P. writes to Jn Mᵉ Frachon about family health, Léonce's treatment for suspected croup, news from Vincent and Bruyère, and several family and account matters.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000590

NRA-L-000590 image 1 showing a folded address panel to a Frachon correspondent at Annonay, with handwritten delivery address, postal marks, sealing evidence, folds and retained annotations. — **Image 1**Address panel to a Frachon correspondent at Annonay, with postal evidence and retained annotations.

NRA-L-000590 image 2 showing a handwritten French letter page with manuscript dateline and text, visible fold lines and complete physical paper edges. — **Image 2**Letter text - Page 1.

NRA-L-000590 image 3 showing a handwritten French letter continuation with closing, marginal or later annotations, visible folds and complete physical paper edges. — **Image 3**Letter text and closing.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000590
Date: 1840-02-15
Original date: Tournon le 15 fevrier 40.
Type: Family correspondence
Language: French / fr
Sender: J. P.
Recipient: Jn Mᵉ Frachon
Extent: 3 documentary sides: Documentary page 1; Documentary page 2; Documentary page 3; 3 digital images.
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000590.

Rights & reuse

Reuse is welcome. Publicly available images may be reused for non-commercial purposes with attribution, and automated machine use is permitted with provenance. Commercial republication requires prior written permission.

Full rights & reuse terms

Publicly available images, transcriptions, translations, metadata and descriptions may be copied, shared, reproduced and republished, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes, provided that Neruda Archives is clearly credited and the relevant item identifier and stable URL are preserved. This permission includes non-commercial scholarly, educational, editorial, exhibition, website and social-media use. Automated machine use, including crawling, indexing, text and data mining, retrieval, embeddings and AI training by commercial and non-commercial systems, is permitted, provided provenance is retained where technically feasible and the item identifier and stable URL are preserved in source records or associated documentation. Commercial publication, commercial reproduction, resale, advertising use, paid access to a database or dataset and bulk redistribution of images require prior written permission. For the avoidance of doubt, permission is not required merely because an AI system or its operator is commercial. The images displayed and downloadable on this page are public access copies, and the permissions above apply to those files. Access to non-public source scans (preservation masters) or files specially prepared for print, where available, requires prior written agreement. Attribution may not be removed or replaced by false or misleading attribution.

Transcript and English translation

working scholarly aid

Address panel

Original transcript

Monsieur
Jn Mᵉ Frachon négᵗ
à Annonay
Ardèche

Address panel

English translation

Mr.
Jn Mᵉ Frachon, merchant
at Annonay
Ardèche

Documentary page 2

Original transcript

Tournon le 15 fevrier 40.

Il y a bien longtems, mon cher germain, que je
m'en fais le reproche de t'Ecrire, j'avois a repondre
a differente lettres, mais soit mes occupations, soit
que j'ai Eu indirectement de vos nouvelles, Enfin
que je me suis laissé paresser, voila bien des
motifs pour Excuser mon silence, d'autant que
je pense souvent a toi, aux tiens, qui ocupes
toute mon affection.
ma santé ne s'acomode guere de ce temps
constament humide, j'ai souffert hier fort et
toute la nuit du mal aux dents, S'il n'y en avoit
qu'une elle seroit bientot arrachée mais toutes
me font mal c'est le rhumatisme qui se porte
là, tous les miens vont bien, Sauf notre
petit Léonce, qui nous a donné bien d'inquiétudes
les premiers jours de la semaine on nous faisoit
craindre le Croup, le pauvre Enfant a Eu 3 [boetes?]
de Sangsues a la gorge deux Sinapismes à chaque
jambe et un vesicatoire au dessus de la nuque, il
a Supporté tout cela, tout en Soupirant avec
une grande patience et une Raison au dessus
de Son age, il est bien maintenant, s'amuse
dans sa chambre qu'il n'a pas quitté depuis
dimanche.
J'ai de bonnes nouvelles de vincent, il

Documentary page 2

English translation

Tournon, February 15, 1840.

It has been a very long time, my dear first cousin, that I have been reproaching myself about writing to you. I had to reply to various letters, but whether it was my occupations, or that I had indirectly received news of you, in short that I let myself be lazy, there are many reasons to excuse my silence, especially since I often think of you, of yours, who occupy all my affection.
My health hardly adapts to this constantly damp weather. I suffered very much yesterday and all night from a toothache. If there were only one, it would soon be pulled out, but they all hurt; it is the rheumatism that is settling there. All my family is doing well, except our little Léonce, who gave us a lot of worry the first days of the week; they made us fear the croup. The poor child had 3 boxes of leeches on his throat, two mustard plasters on each leg and a blister on the back of his neck. He endured all that, while sighing with great patience and a reason beyond his age. He is well now, amusing himself in his room which he has not left since Sunday.
I have good news of Vincent, he

Documentary page 3

Original transcript

attendoit Son gendre qui vient aux couches
de sa femme, vers la fin du mois c.t.
voila quelques jours que je n'ai pas
de Lettres de bruyere, il alloit très bien
n'avoit pu faire Son voyage a privas,
puis qu'il y avoit renoncé et S'Etoit
fait remplacer par un commis, mais
ce n'étoit pas Raison de Santé qui l'en
avoit Empêché,
quand tu Ecriras a phanie, et vincent fait
Leur mes tendres amitiés,
nous Sommes toujours bien peinés de Savoir
notre nièce Marianne Souffrante, donne m'en
je te prie des nouvelles, de Son père, Enfin
de toute la famille ; embrasse bien
pour moi, Et de la part de tous les miens,
ta femme et Elizabeth et crois moi toujours tout a toi
J. P.
j'ai porté au debit du C.te de D. L. les 173.30 que tu me
dis lui avoir Eté compté par nôtre neveu Etienne.
je Reçois à l'instant une Lettre de mathieu qui
me Remet quelques valeurs dont la Rentrée Sera
Soignée au credit de D. C. il m'apprend que tu as Eté
Souffrant ces jours-ci de fatigues, j'espere qu'elles
auront passées, mais je te demande instament de m'en
donner de tes nouvelles

Documentary page 3

English translation

was waiting for his son-in-law who is coming for his wife's confinement, towards the end of the current month.
It has been a few days since I have had letters from Bruyère; he was doing very well. He had not been able to make his trip to Privas, since he had given it up and had had himself replaced by a clerk, but it was not for health reasons that he was prevented.
When you write to Phanie, and Vincent, give them my fondest regards.
We are always very saddened to know our niece Marianne is suffering. Please give me news of her, of her father, in short of all the family; kiss your wife and Elizabeth warmly for me, and on behalf of all my family, and believe me always entirely yours,
J. P.
I have debited the account of D. L. the 173.30 that you tell me was counted to him by our nephew Etienne.
I am just now receiving a letter from Mathieu who remits to me some values whose collection will be taken care of to the credit of D. C. He informs me that you have been suffering these days from fatigue; I hope it will have passed, but I urgently ask you to give me news of yourself.

Discovery Terms

Health and illness
Family correspondence
Financial accounting
Frachon Family Correspondence

Transcriptions and English translations are provided as working scholarly aids, not as replacements for the images of the original documents. Some readings may remain uncertain, especially where handwriting, spelling, damage, abbreviations, names or places are difficult.

Some transcriptions and translations may be prepared with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by Neruda Archives before publication. Better readings, corrections and alternative translations are welcome when they are supported by the manuscript image, context or reliable sources.

When suggesting a correction, please include the item ID, the relevant line or image area, the proposed reading or translation, and the evidence for it.

Suggest a better reading or correction

Relevant line or image area Proposed reading or translation Evidence or reason

Your name Your email

Your name and email are optional. Personal data is used only to assess, document and, where possible, respond to this correction. See the Privacy Notice.