Transgender Icon Chevalière d’Éon in Exile Autograph Note Signed on Debt and Survival, 1795

Chevaliere D'Eon

Manuscript & Autographs

[Transgender and Cross-Dressing][LGBTQ] D’Eon de Beaumont, Charlotte Geneviève. Autograph Note Signed, 8 March 1795, written and signed by one of the earliest recorded transgender women in Europe. The letter dates to D'Eon's time in England, after her diplomatic career, military service, and public gender transition made her one of the most documented transgender individuals of the eighteenth century.

D’Eon de Beaumont, Charlotte Geneviève and Mary Watterison. 8 March, 1795. 1 manuscript pages on one sheet, bifolded. Approx. 8 x 12.5 inches. In English and French. Manuscript letter written from Mary Watterison to Madam D'Eon with a note in D'Eon's hand below, signed "D". Watterison writes to D'Eon explaining that she can no longer afford to continue renting her a room at the agreed upon price, and that D'Eon will have to vacate the room by the following Wednesday or pay more for her rent. D'Eon writes a note below stating that she responded in person and will leave the apartment rather than changing their deal. The letter reads in part:

"1795 My good madam / I am sure your considerate liberality(?) of heart will not only pardon but applaud, what [nesesety] only could compel me to inform you. Which is that the great loss(?) I find from letting the lodgings at the [prise] I first agree(d) too is such as I [realy] cannot afford. for indeed the [prise] is not [equel] even to the trouble of our servants without [reconing] a farthing for the rooms...And now my dr Madam as I never wish to gain anything by you, therefore hope you are too good to wish me to lose by you + you must pardon me if I say I [realy] consider myself as a [cleer] [looser] of 10/6 per week for the past time you have been here, if you give me no more [then] first proposed therefore must beg you to have other lodgings by next Wednesday or else promise to pay me after the rate of a guinea per week besides five...with much true respect for you person + great veneration for you superior [talants]. I am good Madam your most sincere wellwisher + respectful humble servt. / Mary Watterison."

Below, in Chevalier D'Eon's hand (in French, translated) "Received this letter before dinner on Sunday, March 8 1795 in Liverpool. Responded in person that I would return her apartment next Wednesday at the end of my week + of my month, that I never change a done deal / D."

Financial difficulties plagued the Chevalier after she relocated permanently to England in 1785. With her pension abolished, her dueling career ended by poor health, and many of her old acquaintances in France lost to exile or execution, D'Eon turned to her community in England for survival. Her friends and acquaintances provided her with both solace and financial support when she was unable to pay her debts, though she always remained dignified, proud, and unwilling to be taken advantage of, as evidenced by her statement at the end of the letter: "I never change a done deal." In correspondence from this point in her life, D'Eon expresses both grave financial anxiety and profound gratitude to those keeping her from destitution, as well as a deep belief in the manifestation of God as one's community. By 1795, D’Eon had lived publicly as a woman for decades, following the international scandal that surrounded her gender in the 1770s. The manuscript offers insight into D'Eon's life and financial difficulties in England, while her gender was publicly subject to rumor, debate, and trial. Notably, though expressing frustration and displeasure with D'Eon, Mary Watterison always uses the feminine title "Madam", indicating a consistent respect for her gender identity. Soiling and tanning to edges, particularly at upper right margin; legible throughout; intact and well preserved. An unusual firsthand document of an early transgender pioneer identifying herself with feminine pronouns in eighteenth century Europe.

Item #23114

Price: $12,000.00