[ROUGET DE LISLE] – Complete manuscript of “La MARSEILLAISE”.

[ROUGET DE LISLE] – La MARSEILLAISE

Anonymous manuscript (late 18th century)

Copy of the war song for the Army of the Rhine, known as “ La Marseillaise ”.

Two folio pages.

Superb and moving revolutionary copy of the complete text of the national anthem.

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The Marseillaise

Let's go, children of the Fatherland

The day of glory has come

Against us from the tyrany

The bloody standard is raised (bis)

Do you hear in our countryside

Blared the wild soldiers !

They come into our arms

Slay your son, your companions

Citizen arms, form your battalions

Let's walk, let's walk,

Let impure blood water our furrows.

…

…

In 1792, following the King's declaration of war on Austria, a French officer stationed in Strasbourg, Rouget de Lisle, composed the "War Song for the Army of the Rhine" on the night of April 25-26. This song was taken up by the federates of Marseille participating in the Tuileries uprising on August 10, 1792. Its success was such that it was declared the national song on July 14, 1795, by the Convention, at the initiative of the Committee of Public Safety.

Banned under the Empire and the Restoration, the Marseillaise was revived during the Revolution of 1830 and Berlioz developed an orchestration that he dedicated to Rouget de Lisle. The Third Republic (1879) made it a national anthem and in 1887, an "official version" was adopted by the Ministry of War.