I am always on the hunt for some primary historical documents that give a deeper insight into La Fayette’s private life and I found this invoice for a couple of books that he bought between mid-1829 and early 1830.

Daniels, Mary F. “The Lafayette Collection at Cornell.” The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, vol. 29, no. 2, 1972, pp. 95–137. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29781504. Accessed 14 Feb. 2023.

A few titles are especially noteworthy. First, there is one book called “Mem[oirs] of Clinton” That are very likely the Memoirs of DeWitt Clinton, the former Governor of New York who had died in 1828 and whose Memoirs were published in 1829.

Than we have one book by Madame de Staël, a dear and long-time friend of La Fayette. Funny enough, de Staël was the daughter of Jacques Necker, former French minister of finances, and while La Fayette and de Staël had a very close relationship ... La Fayette and Necker’s relationship was less harmoniously.

We also see a book by Destutt de Tracy. He was not only a friend and colleague of La Fayette, no, the two were also in-laws. La Fayette’s son Georges had previously married de Tracy’s daughter.

The most interesting book on that list is probably “Lafayette en amérique.” The book was written by Auguste Levasseur, La Fayette’s secretary during his last visit to America in 1824/25, and published in 1829.

DeWitt Clinton – Scientist of the Day

DeWitt Clinton, an American politician, was born Mar. 2, 1769.