I have long known that Macintosh visited Rome (he bought several books there in late 1790), but the details of his visit have remained sketchy. Thanks to some recent translation work done for me by Dr Emily Hayes of some of the French-language material in Macintosh’s archive, I am beginning now to get a better sense of what might have prompted the visit.

One document in particular, written by André Rangoni, the Pope’s Consul General in Marseille, is particularly revealing. Emily’s summary of the document shows that the memoir itself is primarily a request to Rome to increase the allowance paid to Rangoni (and to his elder brother) on account of various out-of-pocket expenses incurred in undertaking their duties—hiring additional staff, issuing poor relief, providing hospitality to visiting dignitaries, etc., etc.

[This paragraph was revised in June 2025 to reflect an updated understanding of the source material]. Rangoni’s memoir, seemingly written in anticipation of Macintosh’s visit to Rome, expresses his hope that Macintosh, in his prospective conversations with the Pope and Cardinal Secretary of State, Francesco Saverio de Zelada, will recommend him for an “honorable and lucrative job [un emploi honorable et lucratif], on account of his zeal and honesty. The memoir notes that Rangoni had already discussed such a job with the Pope’s nephew, “la Sainteté Monsr. le Duc Braschi“.

Some of the material I looked at in the British Library last week offers further details about Macintosh’s experiences in Italy, but it will take some time to piece it all together into a coherent narrative. While I am very keen to know more (did he, as Rangoni hoped, have an audience with Pope Pius VI?), I am having to resist the strong temptation to extend my search to the Vatican archives where, undoubtedly, there might be something to dig up on Macintosh. Macintosh’s world is one seemingly without end, and I have to leave some of its corners for others to explore.