Paul Arpin¹ (b. France 1811 – died New York, 1865), was editor of the New Orleans Bee, and later in charge of the New York Courier Des Etats Unis. He married Caroline Boyer in New Orleans. The family was well-connected in France, with social links to the artist Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche and others. He wrote largely for the “American Cyclopedia” contributing biographical notices on eminent Frenchmen.

      There does not seem to be an Institution recording any of Paul Arpin’s letters or papers in their holdings per OCLC.

       Henriquel (1797-1892) was a prominent painter-engraver in Paris throughout much of the 19^th century, and awarded the title of Commander of the French Legion of Honor, continued productive work until near the end of his life.

        The collection is comprised of 12 letters, plus a forty page genealogical essay, and a copy of a presentation letter, along with a group of minor items. Two of the letters are by Paul Arpin and five by Henriquel. The remaining letters are from close relatives, including the writer of the genealogical recollections, Amelie Arpin Henriquel, Arpin’s sister and Henriquel’s wife. Paul Arpin’s letter of 1861 reflects uncertainties on the brink of the Civil War. Two other letters of particular note reveal the Henriquel family’s experiences during the siege of Paris in the spring of 1871.

      Paul Arpin letters

            Nouvelle Orleans, March 20, 1846, quarto, 4 pages, to his sister, Amelie Arpin Henriquel, in Paris. The letter is unsigned, but apparently complete. After explanations for failure to write more often, Arpin writes touchingly of a mutual friend of school days who had just died – Mme Delaroche, nee Anne-Elisabeth Vernet, daughter of the painter Horace Vernet], wife of another well established artist, Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche (1797-1756). The letter is revealing both of the character of Arpin and of Anne-Elisabeth, who, returning from Rome wife of “un grand artiste, belle, elegante, recherche” was still affectionate and natural with him, though he was then “sans position,… sans la moindre indication d’avenir ….” Turning to the death of an aunt on his maternal side, Arpin writes of fond memories of Marcy, the chateau home of his grandmother Paillette, inquiring whether it is now held by M. Foy [husband of Arpin’s cousin, and nephew of the Napoleonic General].

             Arpin also comments on progress on the “gravure de l’hemicycle” – [Henriquel’s engraving of Paul Delaroche’s huge fresco at the Palais des Beaux Arts, Paris]. He himself has so far done nothing yet with the documents on the Mont de Piete; the French speaking population has not the resource to make the project a success. Teaching continues, along with his newspaper work, though his income is not increasing. The best in his life are his children, and he writes with fatherly tenderness of Amelie and Louise. The letter concludes tellingly with comment on his own situation, which includes the statement that America offers a real future only to businessmen.

      New York January 1, 1861, to his sister (in French). Octavo, 10 pages. A heartfelt letter written after a bracing, wintry walk of 5 hours to Williamsburg. The solitude of his New Year’s Day suits him, and he continues with thoughts of the departed. His daughters in New Orleans last week sent 42 pages of correspondence, and he quotes at length from passages on family life there – Lina playing Schubert, a game of “Hard-Times,” family readings, Christmas, and the least favorite time of day, when “… Davis (un negrillon) apporte la lanterne pour faire la ronde,” etc. Turning to himself, Arpin describes visits to his New York friends the Millers. Noting he must work soon on Prevost, Pradier and Pierre Puget, he confirms his work still includes teaching.

       The letter closes with a full page on secession and the future, saying the alarms he hears about him shake his usual political optimism, recognizing that events will touch even his own life as “pauvre professeur, but expressing confidence in the recuperative power of the United States. “The South cries out like a man being slaughtered, but there is no one who is disposed to slaughter it,” etc., he writes in comment on the “deplorable” situation.”

       Henriquel Letters  

       Amelie Henriquel letters April 2, 1871 and May 26, 1871, to her nieces and their spouses in America, describe experiences during the Siege of Paris. Octavo, four full pages. Mme Henriquel writes Paris is in “a sort of reign of terror,” giving the context. Fortunately, son-in-law Paul and family have escaped Paris for Versailles, where they are secure if ill-housed. She turns to difficulties of getting mail out, with “indignation” over the “brigands et assassins” who control Paris at the moment. Belongings of the Henriquels and their correspondents have been to shelter, some at the home of Horace Delaroche at Versailles, and a specified sum of money to M. Goupil, [art dealer].  The page written May 26 marks the delivery of Paris and includes impressions of the devastation, retelling the just-learned story of how Notre Dame was saved from destruction, etc. The Henriquels themselves were imprisoned at home by street barricades, and, at the moment of liberation, had all their windows blown out by an explosion.

      26 May, 1871. Louise Chureau Dauguin, Versailles, four pages, to her cousins Amelie and Louise. Writing more about the liberation, reveals the explosion mentioned above occurred in the Luxembourg Gardens, and details gunfire damage to the Henriquel home before commenting with some eloquence on causes of the crisis, social injustice and hopes for a national regeneration.

       October 3 [1876], Philadelphia, Louise writes 8 pages, in pencil, on the Centennial Exhibition, half of it devoted to the bad food, and most of the rest on the exhibits, including the impressive displays of Japan and China.

       Undated ALS, P. Chureau Dauguin to his cousins, 4 pages, 16mo, on an apparently not very satisfactory financial arrangement with other family members, involving the Scillieres, the cousins in America, and a “vague” sum (presumably francs) stipulated as between 150,000 and 200,000.

       January 21, 1886, Henriquel, Paris, writes three pages, octavo, to his niece (now Amelie Arpin Laurel). He sends suggestions to a young man seeking to study architecture in Paris.

       January 19, 1887, Henriquel, Bellevue, Seine et Oise, 4 pages, octavo, to his niece. He writes with contentment over his lot, having had 90 years of good health, and sends advice, halting himself lest he turn twaddler (rabacheur).

       June 26, 1888, Henriquel, Bellevue, to Amelie, 2 ½ pages, octavo, Writing on career choices facing Amelie’s son Paul, he notes in America there are strange transitions, with the dentist becoming magistrate, the butcher a statesman, and so on.

       June 13, 1889. Copy attested by A. Henriquel of a ceremonial letter addressed to her husband and read aloud by Vicomte Henri Delaborde at Bellevue to Henriquel on his 90^th birthday. This is a presentation speech to Henriquel witnessed by some of his better-known students, including well-established French engravers such as Jukes and Achille Jacquet and J. C. Chaplain. On the reverse, A. Henriquel describes the bronze medal by Chaplain, member of the Institute, to honor Henriquel.

1.   Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, vol. 1, p. 98