On this day, the author records that the Duc de Chartres has “not for one instant forgotten the public” in his building projects for the Palais-Royal; the blueprints will be laid out in an apartment of the Palais-Royal where everyone can go to see them starting from 9 July.
Commentary:
The Duc de Chartres is the son and heir of the Duc d’Orléans, but he already has control of the Palais-Royal, which has been the Paris home of the Orléans family for more than a century. His plan is to enclose the garden behind the palace with arcades and rent the ground floor spaces to merchants. In other words, he is about to create what we see today. Alert readers will realize that Chartres is the future Philippe-Égalité.
Pictured: The Palais-Royal as it appears on Turgot’s map of 1735, nearly 50 years before the construction of the arcades that now line the gardens. Credit — Credit — Par Louis Bretez — Detail composited from:File:Turgot map Paris KU 14.jpgFile:Turgot map Paris KU 15.jpg, Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17891155
These memoirs, a record of gossip and events in the capital and at court that was begun by the man of letters Louis Petit de Bachaumont, were continued after his death in 1771 by his secretary M de Mairobert, and then by M d’Angerville after Mairobert’s death in 1779. The memoirs’ publication begins in 1777 and meets with enormous success. The complete 19th century edition consists of 4 volumes.
Pictured: A view of one the Palais-Royal arcades taken by me in January, 2020.
If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.
Oh, that arcade!!! 🤩
Looks like it hasn't changed so very much despite a revolution and several major wars!