Letter from L. Bancel to Notary... (1823)

NRA-L-000656 / 1823

Letter from L. Bancel to Notary Bancel, July 26, 1823

L. Bancel writes to his father, a notary in the canton of Lamastre, with family health news, comments on two cousins at college, and reports weak manufacturing orders in Saint-Chamond.

Neruda Archives
NRA-L-000656

NRA-L-000656 image 1 showing the opening text together with the address and postal evidence. — **Image 1**Opening letter text, address panel and postal evidence.

NRA-L-000656 image 2 showing the handwritten closing and signature. — **Image 2**Letter text and signature.

Archive Record

Identifier: NRA-L-000656
Date: 1823-07-26
Original date: St Chamond le 26 juillet 1823
Type: Family correspondence
Language: French / fr
Sender: L. Bancel
Recipient: Monsieur Bancel
Places: Saint-Chamond / Canton of Lamastre, Ardèche, France
Extent: 2 documentary sides: Opening text and address side; Closing page; 2 digital images.
Signature: L. Bancel
Citation: Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000656.

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

A Monsieur
Monsieur Bancel notaire
aux [Ayaux?], canton de la Mastre
Ardèche
par tournon

Address panel

English translation

Mr Bancel, notary
At [Ayaux?], canton of Lamastre
Ardèche
Via Tournon

Letter text - Image 1

Original transcript

St Chamond le 26 juillet 1823

Mon cher papa,

voulant me conformer aux ordres
que j'ai reçu de vous de vous écrire
souvent, je viens vous donner quelques
détails sur la situation actuelle
de Mon oncle et de ma tatan et de
toute leur famille c'est je crois ce
que je puis vous dire de plus intéressant.
Mon oncle n'est pas encore de retour,
mais nous l'attendons les premiers jours
de la semaine prochaine, il a écrit
presque tous les jours, il se porte fort
bien, ma tatan est plus mal depuis
quelques jours, elle commence cependant
à se lever un peu dans la journée.
Adelle est toujours auprès d'elle,
et je ne pense pas qu'elle retourne

[Address]

Letter text - Image 1

English translation

Saint-Chamond, 26 July 1823.

My dear Papa,

Wishing to follow your instructions that I write to you often, I am sending you a few details about the present condition of my uncle, my aunt and their whole family; I believe this is the most interesting news I can give you. My uncle has not yet returned, but we expect him in the first days of next week. He has written almost every day and is in very good health. My aunt has been worse for several days, although she is now beginning to get up for a little while during the day. Adelle is still with her, and I do not think she will return

[Address]

Letter text continuation - Image 2

Original transcript

à Lyon. j'ai eu le plaisir de
la fêter lundi dernier, je lui
débité quelques vers pour comparer
ses attraits à l'éclat des fleurs que
lui presentait, et j'ai ajouté seulement
qu'ils seraint plus durables.
Nous avons reçues des nouvelles de
Phanie, elle va fort bien et attend
sans trop sans inquiéter pourtant
le moment des féries; vous devez savoir
pourquoi ce tems ne lui est pas aussi
cher qu'à tant d'autres.
Mes deux cousins, sont toujours au collège
mais il s'en faut de beaucoup qu'ils
soient les phénix de de leurs classes
Gustave est devenu aussi paresseux que
Bancel, au moins, et autant serait déja
beaucoup.
Sitot que mon oncle sera de retour

je vous écrirai pour prosper.
n'oubliez pas la promesse que vous
m'avez faite de venir nous voir au
commencement de 7embre; vous
ferez le plus grand plaisir à ma tatan,
et quelques moments de plaisir ne lui seraient
pas inutiles. je crois que l'ouvrage
que nous aurons me permettra d'aller
vous chercher à Annonay; Mon oncle
ainsi que tous les autres fabriquans
n'a pas reçu de fortes commissions
et si tout ne change je ne sais pas
ce que deviendra le commerce.
Embrassez s'il vous plait pour moi
Ma maman, mes sœurs et prosper et
Célestin et tous les parens et amis; n'oubliez
pas non plus de me rappeller au souvenir
de Verrassat.

je vous embrasse de tout mon
cœur, votre très soumis et
très-obéissant fils L. Bancel

Letter text continuation - Image 2

English translation

to Lyon. I had the pleasure of celebrating her name day last Monday. I recited a few verses to her, comparing her charms with the brilliance of the flowers I presented to her, adding only that her charms would be more lasting.

We have received news of Phanie. She is very well and awaits the holiday period without too much anxiety; you will know why this season is not as dear to her as it is to so many others.

My two cousins are still at college, but they are very far from being the stars of their classes. Gustave has become at least as lazy as Bancel, and that alone would already be a great deal.

As soon as my uncle returns, I shall write to you concerning Prosper. Do not forget your promise to come and see us at the beginning of September. You will give my aunt the greatest pleasure, and a few pleasant moments would do her no harm. I believe the work we have will allow me to come and fetch you at Annonay. My uncle, like all the other manufacturers, has not received any substantial orders, and unless everything changes I do not know what will become of trade.

Please kiss Mother, my sisters, Prosper and Célestin for me, as well as all our relatives and friends. Do not forget either to commend me to Verrassat's remembrance.

I embrace you with all my heart,
Your most dutiful and obedient son,
L. Bancel

Discovery Terms

Family correspondence
Health
Education
Manufacturing
Trade

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.