Guillotine Blade

A well-dressed plumpish man, who bore a striking resemblance to France's late, great King Louis XVI, was a determined auction bidder in Paris last week for a dull, tarnished guillotine blade said to have cut off the head of His late Majesty. Up went bids from 2,000 francs ($135) until everyone dropped out but the plumpish unknown and that well-known collector of French Revolution mementoes, M. Charles Lievre. In a final spurt to 12,500 francs ($835), the blade went to M. Lievre, along with documents certifying that until 1893 it had remained in the executioner's family. Irate with frustration, the living image of decapitated Louis XVI bustled out of the auction refusing to divulge his name.

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