Gustave COURBET (1819-1877). L.A.S., Thursday [early July 1871?], to Victor Considerant 4 pages in-8 (traces of watercolour on the 3rd page), envelope; Achille Benouville collection stamp. Superb letter to his compatriot and friend Considerant, on his arrest, his political commitment, his activity during the Commune, and the affair of the Vendôme Column. It appears to be unpublished. About a fortnight after his arrest and a week's stay at the Versailles House of Justice, he was back at the Conciergerie. "Fortunately, the military have given up trying me, I'm going to be tried by the civil courts"; he was to be questioned by Judge Foulhoux. He was no longer held incommunicado and could be visited. He came back "tied up and handcuffed. You have to see everything in life. My poor friend and cousin Max Buchon was dragged from Besançon to Arbois between mounted gendarmes. People who want freedom for everyone are out of luck". He wrote to his compatriot Jules Grévy, who advised him to take on the famous lawyer Lachaux. "I believe that now my accusation should only concern the Vendôme Column, although I am not really the author of its fall". He explained how he had tried to prevent its destruction, even proposing to move the column to Les Invalides... "You know, my dear, that I am not a member of any government, I am in favour of freedom. So if Henry V returned, Courbet would be proscribed, "having fought against the priests, who in my opinion are an obstacle to liberty. [...] If the d'Orléans returned, I would be outlawed, having fought against their father from 40 to 48. I fought against the republicans in 48; I then fought against Napoleon for 20 years, with the help of the column, I will be in Caienne perhaps if they come back. The only government I served was the 4 September, and in a disinterested way; from the point of view of the arts, it was I who did all its work, and who saved our museums from the Prussians and the Versaillais, and from civil war. Today, it is this government that is keeping me in prison, that is dishonouring me and losing my existence". On 18 March, he was in charge of 200 employees paid by Versailles, and did not dismiss anyone. He also saved the paintings in the Tuileries which, without him, would have burnt down... And if the Socialists return, he will also be proscribed, as a suspect; they have already tried to put him in Mazas prison when he resigned from the minority... "You must admit that I am unlucky in politics and that freedom costs me dearly. At the moment all my paintings are rotting in a cellar, the government of 4 September has taken away my building which I used for my exhibitions to make barricades. My studio in Ornans has been robbed by the Prussians. Thus discredited, he feared he would never be able to sell again, "all because I wanted to paint freely, without ever having asked for or wanted either a place or honour, or purchases or privileges. I don't even have a painting in Luxembourg, although I am known throughout Europe. This is what disinterestedness and liberality lead to"... He added that, "since they insist on making me responsible for the column, I have offered to raise it at my own expense by selling all my paintings at a public auction in England".