Duchod

Research Status: Basic Last Updated: 2025-01-23 Diary Coverage: Up to 1880-10-10

Duchod was a Parisian stationery maker who created custom letterhead with drawings, mottos, and decorative elements for wealthy clients in the 1870s-1880s.

When Marie first met Paul de Cassagnac, she commissioned Duchod to create stationery featuring Paul and Virginie (from the famous novel) under their leaf. Duchod made a mistake and instead drew Virginie drowned. Marie later viewed this error as prophetic of her doomed infatuation with Cassagnac, noting the coincidence that she had been thinking of Cassagnac when ordering the design.

This anecdote reveals both Marie's romantic sensibility and her tendency to see symbolic meaning in chance events.