Manuscript Archive from 33rd Degree Mason, Author, Artist, and Curator

Avignon, Basel, Annecy, Paris, 1948. Archive of three manuscripts, one letter, and 4 pages of meeting documents, all in French. Some chipping to edges, occasional smudging, toning. Generally very good.

A trove of archival materials from known landscape painter, author, and 33rd degree Mason, Louis LaChat (1873-1948).  LaChat was born in Paris and studied under Léon Broquet and Emile Octave Guillonnet, with his first exhibition at the Salon des Indépendants in 1906.  He served in WWI and was later appointed directur-curator of the Annecy Museum.  It was his involvement in Freemasonry, however, which led him to be dismissed (truncated) from that position at the start of WWII.  LaChat wrote and published on many occult themes from Esotericism in Mozart's The Magic Flute, to the history of Freemasonry in provincial France.  


This archive consists of three unpublished works, one on the famous theft of the Mona Lisa; one on converging religion in Spain and France of the Middle Ages, which touches on mysticism, science, and other esoteric topics; and one on the Zodiac and Masonry, which is fully illustrated and full of symbolism.  This is accompanied by official notes from two lodge meetings in '47-'48 as well as a handwritten letter to LaChat from Ernest Rochat, Grand Prior of Helvetia, showing his deep involvement with the organization.

1.  Leonardo de Vinci & Le Vol de La "Joconde."  [Annecy]: 1934.  30x21cm, 41pp, loose mimeod. sheets, recto only, hand corrections in blue ink and pencil, laid in blue scrap paper covers with title in manuscript on front.  Presented at a conference at the Annecy Theatre.

2.  Manuscript letter on Grand Priory of Helvetia letterhead, single sheet, recto verso in ink, signed by Rochat and dated in 1938.  The letter invites LaChat, as a 33rd degree Mason, to a knighting ceremony in Switzerland. 

3.  L'Espagne et le Midi de la France.  [Annecy?]: N.d.  27x21cm, [1], 12pp, loose mimeod. sheets, recto only, few corrections, hand numbered, and signed in ink by LaChat, laid in blue scrap paper covers with title in manuscript on front.  

4.  [4]pp lodge meeting notes from No. 342 in Avignon, each officially stamped.  Two with LaChat's signature at top and a couple annotations.  

5.  42 grouped items: pencil and ink illustrations, writings, notes, hand-drawn maps, clippings, flyers, etc., likely for an unfinished work, Le Zodiaque.  [Paris]: Ca. 1946.  The printed broadside which accompanies these items gives a clue as to their intended audience.  The flyer announces a literature prize for original works on Masonry sponsored by the quarterly French Masonic journal, La Chaîne d'Union, for 1946-47.  First prize, 3000 Francs.  


This archive represents a deep dive into the writings, accompanied by very skilled and artistic illustrations, of a high-up French Mason.  The material also proves quite interesting when considered against the backdrop of the Vichy regime, German occupation, French Resistance, and other strong political movements in wartime Europe.  . (Inventory #: 6628)