Letter from Etienne Prieur

September 23, 1818

Most excellent Berbiguier, I saw you yesterday powdered, combed, and daubed, at the Palais-Royal, in the Bois Gallery. I recommend that you be wise and restrained in your actions, words, and expressions. I am returning your letter, it shows the poor state of your mind. If your parents saw it, they might disown you. It does not take much more, and much less, to have you put in Charenton. [1].

I greet you, most excellent Berbiguier of Terre-Neuve du Thym.

[1] Charenton is an asylum founded in 1645. As recently as 1814 it was the home of the Marquis de Sade.

Amusing if not perfectly relevant, in this article about mental asylums in Paris, they show an illustration of the front of another asylum, with its front door labeled as “The Goblin Gate.”