FRENCH REVOLUTION / STORMING OF THE BASTILLE / THE GREAT TER - Lot 272

FRENCH REVOLUTION / STORMING OF THE BASTILLE / THE GREAT TERROR / MONTMARTRE / PARIS. City Hall. Minutes of the Visit to the Abbey of Mont-Martre. Taken inside and in the cloister of the said Abbey of Mont-Martre, on July 21, 1789. In Paris, from the Printing House of Lottin the Elder, & Lottin de S.-Germain. Folio-sized poster (dimensions: 58 x 45 cm) printed in two columns, adorned with two coat-of-arms vignettes of the City of Paris at the top. A rare official report drawn up just one week after the storming of the Bastille, at the height of the food crisis and amid rumors of hoarding of weapons and grain in Paris. Sent on the orders of the Marquis de La Fayette, the Paris Commune, and the Saint-Honoré district, the commissioners (accompanied by the parish priest of Saint-Eustache and citizens) thoroughly searched the buildings, cellars, underground passages, and attics of the Royal Abbey of Montmartre in search of weapons and hidden stockpiles. The report notes the absence of weapons (except for a defective gardener’s rifle) and details the meager reserves of flour and wheat. Signed in print by the commissioners (De Leutre, etc.), by the abbess Sister Montmorency Laval, as well as by the aldermen and members of the Standing Committee of City Hall. Marked creases, marginal foxing, a tiny loss along the center fold, slight wear, and small tears along the edges.