Handwritten letter from Pierre Nicolas Perrier-Jouët (1836)

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In 1836, Nicolas Perrier-Jouët, the founder of the Champagne brand negotiates the amicable resolution of a financial disagreement with his historical English partner.

Handwritten letter from Pierre-Nicolas Perrier to Paul Clossmann. Two pages. In French. 22 cm x 26.7 cm. Epernay, July 19, 1836. Good condition. Single piece.

extracts

… If I were in your position, I would not have condemned without listening. Your opinions prove to me that you've already decided I'm wrong.

(…) What is difficult for me is to see the difference in Mrs. Mathieu's behavior since the death of her husband. On the 28th of June, she wrote (…) that she thanked me very much for my loyalty and generosity to her and her husband. Since her husband's death, I haven't received even a letter as is the tradition to notify a foreigner of someone's death. Without you, I would still be waiting for Mr. Mathieu's health to improve.

(…) What increases my surprise, reading your letter, is Madame Mathieu's idea of ​​resolving our disagreements in justice. (...) If I have other sacrifices to grant to Madame Mathieu, they cannot be forced, they must be of my own free will.

(…) The result of the accounts shows only debts that Mrs. Mathieu must pay.

(…) I am convinced that you are as surprised as I am sorry to see that Madame Mathieu did not make the effort to write me a letter, a sincere explanation would probably have done more than all the courts in the world would have done, because the courts judge, and good relations reconcile.

Perrierjouet

According to Perrier-Jouët that we contacted, « this letter is related to the death and irregularities found in the accounts of the first importer of the Perrier-Jouët house in England, James Mathieu. Pierre Nicolas perrier and James Mathieu signed a trade treaty in 1832. All went well until 1835-1836 when irregularities appeared in Lord Mathieu's accounts, without much detail and explanation. James Mathieu, sick with tuberculosis, died at the end of 1835 or at the beginning of 1836, and the contract with his widow ended in 1836. »

In this letter, Perrier-Jouët tries to resolve the disagreement with the indebted widow Mathieu, through a wine dealer named Clossman, who is in charge of managing the widow's affairs and will. Clossman came from a German family, from the city of Manheim, who made their fortune with wines and racehorses, in the Bordeaux region in the 18th century.

We appreciate here the disappointment of the founder of the Champagne brand and his willingness to resolve the disagreement amicably with the person responsible for its success in its first export market, the England (from 1811), a few months before he first entered the North American market (1837).