PREFACE ix 



fessor Gustav G. Laubschcr, who happened to be in Paris, 

 engaged in investigating Romance literary subjects, kindly 

 consented to go to Coueron for the purpose of inspecting them. 

 Monsieur Lavigne had already prepared for me, and still held, 

 a number of photographs of the most important manuscripts, 

 which are now for the first time reproduced, and, with the 

 aid of a stenographer, in the course of two or three days they 

 were able to transcribe the most essential and interesting parts 

 of this voluminous material. But at that very moment sinister 

 clouds were blackening the skies of Europe, and my friend 

 was obliged to leave his task unfinished and hasten to Paris; 

 when he arrived in that city, on the memorable Saturday of 

 August 1, 1914, orders for the mobilization of troops had 

 been posted ; it was some time before copies of the manuscripts 

 were received from Coueron, and he left the French capital 

 to return to America. 



These documents came into the hands of Monsieur La- 

 vigne through his wife, who was a daughter and legatee of Ga- 

 briel Loyen du Puigaudeau, the second, son of Gabriel Loyen du 

 Puigaudeau, the son-in-law of Lieutenant and Mme. Jean Audu- 

 bon. Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, the second, who died at 

 Coueron in 1892, is thought to have destroyed all letters of the 

 naturalist which had been in possession of the family and 

 which were written previous to 1820, when his relations with 

 the elder Du Puigaudeau were broken off; not a line in the 

 handwriting of John James Audubon has been preserved at 

 Coueron. 



In June and July, 1914, Dr. Laubscher had repeatedly 

 applied to the French Foreign Office, through the American 

 Embassy at Paris, for permission to examine the dossier of 

 Jean Audubon in the archives of the Department of the 

 Marine, in order to verify certain dates in his naval career 

 and to obtain the personal reports which he submitted upon 

 his numerous battles at sea, but at that period of strain it 

 was impossible to gain further access to the papers sought. 



Having told the story of the way in which these unique 

 and important records came into my possession, I wish to ex- 



