CAGLIOSTRO ALESSANDRO: (1743-1795) Giuseppe Balsamo, known as Count di Cagliostro, Italian ...

CAGLIOSTRO ALESSANDRO: (1743-1795) Giuseppe Balsamo, known as Count di Cagliostro, Italian Adventurer and Occultist. Cagliostro, whose origins were shrouded in mystery, was a renowned magician close to most European Royal courts, his occult arts including alchemy, psychic healing and scrying. An extremely rare L.S, `Io Giuseppe Balsamo´, a bold good example signature, two pages, 4to, n.p., [Rome], n.d., in French. Cagliostro signs at the base of a carefully written text, being copied extracts of letters sent by Mrs Swinton to Mrs Cazin, mainly related to Cagliostro, gossips on his origins, his behaviour, etc.., stating in part `..I have to admit that I was one of his most devoted partisans.. until I was shown the documents signed by him, with his writing that I know well..´, further saying `..the real name of the self-called Count di Cagliostro is Cico, from Naples, son of a coachman..´ The present document, probably written by disappointed disciples of Cagliostro, was signed in Italy, where he returned in 1789 from his exile in England. He was arrested and sentenced to death on the charge of being a freemason, but Pope Pius VI commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. Small overall age wear and creasing to the borders. Two very small holes not affecting the signature. G £5000-8000

Cagliostro was arrested in 1785, held in the Bastille, and prosecuted for his uncertain participation in the affair of the Diamond Necklace at the court of King Louis XVI of France, involving Queen Marie Antoinette. The bad reputation of the Queen was definitively ruined by the implication that she participated in a crime to defraud the crown jewelers of the cost of a very expensive diamond necklace. This Affair is historically significant as one of the events that led, among other causes, to precipitate the French Revolution.