A letter to love....

Here is my latest coup de coeur. Blogging friend Mélanie, the young talented French antiquaire of Le petit cabinet de curiosités recently opened an online shop where she sells her delicate treasures. I was first looking for an old handwritten personal letter but as Mélanie had explained they are quite rare so I bought this beautiful XVIIIth century land contract handwritten on parchment.

And because Mélanie is very sweet she added a little surprise for me which she knew I would love : a letter written by a mother to her son who is in college dated back to may 1835. She gently scolds him as he has been deprived of a day out for misbehavior. The tone is very touching and the end of the letter intrigued me as she says her silk worms keep her very busy. Did she have them for mere pleasure or did she produce silk ? And I cried with delight when I saw the address : Collège Royal, Bouches-du-Rhône - in Marseille, the biggest city near my hometown Aix-en-Provence. I love it so much, I keep it on my desk just for the pleasure of touching it softly....Mille mercis Mélanie !