ABSTRACT
On 16 February 1757, Jean Jodin, a Genevan watchmaker domiciled near Paris, wrote a despairing letter to his sister, Marie Jodin, painting his domestic circumstances in the blackest terms:1
My dear sister, I do not know how to describe my situation to you. You will judge my
state best by the cruel but indispensable course of action that I am taking, rather than by the best-expressed and most moving narrative.
