At the end of April 2012, the Société des études robespierristes learned about the auction at Sotheby’s in Paris of unpublished manuscripts of Robespierre and Le Bas. The sentiment of emotion, shared by the l’Institut d’histoire de la Révolution française together with numerous associations of friends, was soon followed by a reaction. At the beginning of May, the Société des études robespierristes launched a national subscription aiming to collect enough money to keep in public collections the precious writings of the Incorruptible or at least to incite public institutions devoted to the conservation of documents to act. The subscription was a success, supported by the National Assembly and the Senate, and widely broadcast by the media. Soon the State took the lead, and purchased the two bundles on sale. During several weeks, letters accompanied by contributions flowed in, coming from many places; at once moved and indignant, more than a thousand contributors participated in this subscription, and thus directly participated in this civic operation to protect a national heritage. Two years later, it is time to reconsider this unprecedented movement, to grasp its dynamic, and to draw a portrait of the group of donors, to measure and to understand their gesture. Without their action, it goes without saying, these manuscripts would most probably not have been conserved ; with their aid, these documents could enter the collections in the National Archives.