Letters of Charles Meryon to his father Charles Lewis Meryon and some letters from other correspondents regarding Charles Meryon (letters 101-219), 1839-1868

Component identifier:

Item ff. 197-568

Content Summary:

The letters from Meryon, which are the originals, date from 1839 to 1863, five years before his death. They were mostly written in Paris, but some of the earlier letters, which document his naval service, were written in Toulon, Smyrna, Tunis, Valparaiso, Tahiti and Akaroa. They were addressed to his father in London. All the Meryon letters are in French.

The letters refer to Meryon's attendance at the Naval School at Brest, friends, his life at Toulon, cruises on the Alger in the Mediterranean, financial difficulties, his impressions of Algiers, Tunis, Athens and Smyrna, shipboard life, painting lessons at Toulon, his appointment to the corvette Le Rhin (1842), the ship's visit to the French settlement at Akaroa in New Zealand, life in Valparaiso (1844-45), the Marquesas Islands, his return to France (1846), a visit to England and meetings with Fanny and Henry Broadwood (1847), the 1848 revolution in Paris, his decision to study painting with Eugène Bléry, the transformation of Paris, exhibitions, his series of Parisian views, commissions, his illnesses and internment at the asylum at Charenton St Maurice (1858-59), his relations with his father and friends, and his thoughts of emigrating to New Zealand (1862).

Within the chronological sequence of letters are a few from relatives and friends of Meryon: Antoine-Edouard Foley, Mme Blouin, Fanny Broadwood, Gustave Salicis and Charles Lewis Meryon's principal Parisian correspondent, M. Miranda. The letters of Broadwood and Miranda are in English. The letters from 1863-68 describe visits to Meryon, his health, living conditions and companions, his financial difficulties, his re-admission to Charenton (1866) and his death. There are also copies of a few letters of Charles Lewis Meryon. The 1867-68 letters are not numbered.

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