Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte.

DE BOURRIENNE, Fauvelet. [Napoleon].

$45,000.00

Item Number: 117078

London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1885.

Exceedingly rare edition of M. de Bourrienne’s Life of Napoleon extra-illustrated with additional portraits and views and over 50 autograph letters and notes signed by Napoleon I,  members of his family, associates, and the author bound in. Octavo, bound in three quarters scarlet morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt with others uncut, tissue-guarded frontispiece and full color portrait to each volume, illustrated with engravings issued in the initial publication and over 100 extra portraits and views bound in. With over 50 autograph letters signed bound in including 3 autograph letters signed by Napoleon I (bound into Vol. I page 201, Vol. I page 369, and Vol. III page 530), and autograph letters signed by Charles J. Bernadotte, King of Spain; Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain; Fauvelet de Bourrienne; A.A.L. Caulincort, Duc de Vicenza; Marquis Emmanuel Grouchy; Napoleon’s second wife Marie Louise. Duchess of Parma; Joachim Murat, King of Naples; Comte Horace Sebastiani, and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington among others. With the original compiler’s printed catalog of extra material detailing the location (volume and page number) of each added engraving and autograph letter signed.  In near fine condition. Accompanied by an additional military endorsement signed by Napoleon during the Peninsular War, “Approuvé  Np.” An exceptional collection of significant Napoleonic era signatures.

French military and political leader Napoleon Bonaparte rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. One of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. He also remains one of the most celebrated and controversial political figures in human history. Based on years of intimate friendship and professional association with Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne's Memoirs of Napoleon gained the author fame upon publication for its vivid and detailed account of his interactions with Napoleon and his extended family. Invigorated by many dialogues, not only in which the author participated but even of conversations that he was only told about by others, the narration offers an intimate portrait of its subject: his brilliance, skill at governance, and military prowess.