1862 French Food Invoice, Letter & Price List – Maison Groult, Paris

Original French ephemera from Maison Groult, Paris, comprising an 1862 food trade invoice, business correspondence, a stamped postal panel and an illustrated price list.

The invoice features an elaborate heading decorated with exhibition medals, including portraits of Napoleon III. Its lettering advertises pastas and flours from France, Italy and overseas. The heading names Groult Fils as successor and lists premises at 12 Rue Sainte-Apolline in Paris, a steam-powered factory in Vitry-sur-Seine and a retail shop at 3 Passage des Panoramas.

Handwritten entries record purchases of tapioca, pea flour and rice flour, with calculations leading to a final invoice amount of 85.80 francs. The accompanying letter, dated the same day, refers to dispatch by railway and payment arrangements.

The main document opens like a booklet. Its back preserves a handwritten address to Bourg-Saint-Andéol in the Ardèche, a blue French postage stamp, postal cancellations and a red sealing mark. It was folded for mailing, with the address written directly on the outer face rather than on a separate envelope.

The separate printed sheet, marked “Prix courant n° 16,” provides wholesale and retail prices for a wide selection of food products. Its two-column layout lists Brazilian tapioca, sago, Jamaican arrowroot, Italian pasta, vegetable flours, rice products and cocoa with tapioca. “Biscottes de Bruxelles” also appears among the specialities offered.

With its decorative medal illustrations, period typography, handwritten accounts and postal markings, this set offers a glimpse into nineteenth-century French food commerce and business correspondence. An appealing addition to a collection of antique invoices, culinary ephemera, illustrated letterheads or postal history.

DETAILS

• Contents: one folded document comprising an invoice, accompanying correspondence and a stamped postal address panel on the back, plus one separate printed price-list sheet
• Business: Maison Groult / Groult Fils, successor
• Invoice and letter date: 29 August 1862
• Price-list date: 10 April 1862
• Price-list number: 16
• Origin: Paris, France
• Postal destination: Bourg-Saint-Andéol, Ardèche, France
• Subject: food trade, flours, pasta, tapioca and grocery products
• Language: French
• Materials: printed paper with handwritten ink entries, annotations, a postage stamp and postal markings
• The stamped postal side is part of the main document; no separate envelope is included
• Original physical documents, not reproductions or digital downloads

DIMENSIONS

• Main document, closed like a booklet: 27 × 21.5 cm (height × width)
• Separate price-list sheet: 26 × 21.5 cm (height × width)

CONDITION

Age-related paper toning, scattered spots and marks, visible folds and creases, and wear along the edges. Small edge tears and losses are visible, particularly along the upper edge of the separate price list. The correspondence shows areas of faded ink and writing visible through the paper.

The postal side shows pronounced mailing folds, surface rubbing, postal ink marks and a red sealing mark. The invoice heading and printed price list remain clearly readable overall.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form part of the condition description.

You will receive the exact folded document and separate price-list sheet shown in the photographs.

« Frame and decorative accessories not included. »