Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

This collection has been minimally processed and is open for research.

Terms of access:

The Library believes that all or nearly all material in this collection is likely to be in the public domain, free of copyright restrictions. Visit our Permissions and Publishing page for more information about use of Special Collections materials. The library can provide copyright information upon request, but users are responsible for making their own determination about lawful use of collections materials. NoC-US: No Copyright - United States: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Preferred citation:

MSS 16947, Declaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Summary

Extent:
0.03 Cubic Feet One letter-size file folder
Creator:
Amanda Hall Rare Books and Michel, Jenny Ricard
Language:
French
Preferred citation:

MSS 16947, Declaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains a leather-bound handwritten manuscript copy of the 1789 Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen, comprising the preamble and all seventeen articles, produced by Jenny Ricard, a fourteen-year-old girl from Nîmes, France. Stamped on the front and back binding is "LA LOI" and "LE ROI" in gilt. The text is written in brown ink throughout, with decorative titles and section headings rendered in red ink and red capitals. The manuscript is signed at the end: "Nîmes le 9 M[ars] 1792." Endpapers are painted red, with two notes of authorship on the initial blank, one in red ink and one in black ink. Two explanatory notes appear on the first blank leaf, written in red and black ink respectively. The first, in red ink, was written by Ernest Constant, who noted that the book was written by Jenny Michel née Ricard, his maternal grandmother, and reads: "Ce livre a été écrit par ma grand mère maternelle...Elle avait 13 ans." A second note beneath it in black ink further identifies Jenny and her family connections to Nîmes and Cette, and records her death on February 12, 1777, at the age of 70.

Acquisition information:
This collection was purchased from Amanda Hall by the Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia on 4 March 2026.
Physical description:
Good
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Human rights
Women -- Education
Names:
Amanda Hall Rare Books
Places:
France