FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

present. _____ less decorated, 1 Erard harp—a real goody which I am sending you on
account and for which you are debted in F having been credited in fr (about 1700 with
Duault). 93
Lastly a trunk, which contains 4 others, [?]
which young ladies Florian will accept with
the contents if they are kind enough to do me
that honor.
Although the freight is entered as paid, it has
not been, as I did not want to lose the total in
case the vessel be taken or lost. For the rest,
I have had the whole shipment insured
against all risks, at 6 ___ per pound, so as to
be able to be reimbursed in case of loss.
Now please be kind enough, Monsieur,
Madame and Mademoiselles, to take in good
part [to accept?] the abuse I am going to hurl
at you. For more than a year since you left,
you have not written a word to your brother,
nor you saucy little girls, to your uncle, who
nevertheless loves you quite a bit. I know Monsieur le Docteur, that you will not be
lacking in excuses. You have written me 10 letters which probably did not arrive. I
swear I don’t believe a word of it. “Sister had other fish to fry,” [the latter in English],
the young ladies on the Mississippi for example. But the dear little nieces who I hope do
not know how to tell good lies, would not have the same excuse to make me like you do.
And know well that they [will] answer to me at the Final Judgment before the Eternal
Father, when he will demand an accounting of the sincere friendship I have vowed for
them, and which they have not reciprocated. 94
But about the Last Judgment, and to return to more immediate things which leads us by
one thing after another to the Creation, is it really true that Emmanuel is married? Have
written to Mme. Davison that “that that was going to do it” quite recently, and I cannot
square that with the retreat he has beaten toward the Natchitoches, unless he had the
intention of peopling the wilderness. What the devil does this change mean, I don’t
understand it at all.
93 Sebastian Erard (originally Erhard) was born in Strasbourg in 1752 and patented the first concert harp in
June 1810, after eight years of obsessive work at his establishments in London and Paris. At this time, the
harp was as popular as the piano, as an instrument in people’s homes. Erard is considered a genius, and
there is an international society devoted to him and his works. <strong>The</strong> harp referred to here could have been
made in Paris, perhaps that is why the (somewhat garbled) sentence refers to Paris. <strong>The</strong> Florian harp could
have been a concert harp, but it seems more likely that it was a lighter, smaller harp. <strong>The</strong> illustration is
borrowe from C.L. Caulfield (clcaulfield.com) where a small drawing of the famous harp costs $375.
94 It is clear from this rather stern (or funny?) paragraph that Madame Florian and her four daughters have
at last arrived in Louisiana
116