LAENNEC René [Quimper, 1781 - manoir de Ploaré, 1826], Frenc - Lot 297

LAENNEC René [Quimper, 1781 - manoir de Ploaré, 1826], French physician. Autograph letter signed to his father, [Paris] Tuesday, 9 fructidor year XIII [August 27, 1805]. 1 page small in-4 on a two-sheet with subscription on verso, addressed to M. Laennec, lawyer, Quimper. Curious letter beginning with a dozen lines written in Breton [which his father, Théophile-Marie Laennec, mastered perfectly and then continued in French. "You can well guess that the Celtic beginning of my letter was not composed without leafing through the dictionary and grammar of R.P. Grégoire. of R.P. Grégoire de Rostrenen". Laennec, a young doctor, thanks his father for the books he has received, adding that he would also need a Breton-French dictionary, as well as a few notions about Breton poetry and verse-making, but that he would have to a more economical route: "The box cost nineteen francs postage, and your carpenters in Quimper were careful to hammer in the nails for the closure and the lid. that the cover of two volumes of Ogée's dictionary was damaged". Then he talks about the state of health of his younger brother, Michaud: "he needs to be very careful to prevent recurrences which could, in the end, be disastrous". [Michaud Laennec died in 1810, after a brief career as a lawyer].