Details
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, NAPOLEON I (1769-1821)
A 1½ page part engraved, part manuscipt French Republican Government Order, 2° (13½ x 8¾in.), on paper headed "Bonaparte, Général en Chef de l'Armée d'Italie" and with central vignette depicting Liberty, from Verona, [2 September 1796] to the Commissioner in Chief of Ordinance, 24 lines in French in a secretarial hand, signed "Bonaparte," and stating that he has given orders for the provision of 1000 hundredweight of grain at the fortress of Perchiera, which is friendly to him, in case of siege. He asks the commissioner to supervise its distribution from the grain ship -- and warns that the commissioner is responsible for anything that might happen if the fortress is besieged without being provisioned. He is alarmed because the military administration service is working badly all the time, and has a good mind to put the money at the disposal of the Central Agency since Administration is keeping all the money without passing anything on to the Army (lightly browned, hole caused by thickness of ink in the flourish below signature). With 20 other autograph letters relating to the Napoleonic era, including a letter from Rome, dated April 8th 1809, with rare frank mark, and several letters and examples of printed ephemera relating to the French Revolution in two modern albums. Of particular interest is a 3-page autograph letter, signed by J. Dring, from Paris, June 23rd 1791, to the Right Honourable Dr. Richard Heron, describing the flight of Louis XVI and his family and the general unrest in the city: "On Tuesday morning about 9 o'clock with horror painted in every face the people ran wildly about the streets, & no other words were to be heard but, Roi est parti ... The streets were immediately filled with national guards ... the shops were shut and Paris exhibited a scene of the greatest terror and dismay ... I found the mob had entered the palace with the national guard ... neither the king, the dauphin, the queen, the kings brother, his aunt, or Madame Elizabeth were to be found ... Mr. de la Fayette and Mr. Bailly the mayor went round the city ordered the barriers to be shut and that not a person should be suffered to pass ... No names could be found bad enough for his majesty, he was called weak, perjured, rascal; every villainous epithet was mentioned with the greatest applause." He goes on to describe the escape and the eventual re-capture of the King (creased on folds, torn with loss of text on fore-edge). (2)
A 1½ page part engraved, part manuscipt French Republican Government Order, 2° (13½ x 8¾in.), on paper headed "Bonaparte, Général en Chef de l'Armée d'Italie" and with central vignette depicting Liberty, from Verona, [2 September 1796] to the Commissioner in Chief of Ordinance, 24 lines in French in a secretarial hand, signed "Bonaparte," and stating that he has given orders for the provision of 1000 hundredweight of grain at the fortress of Perchiera, which is friendly to him, in case of siege. He asks the commissioner to supervise its distribution from the grain ship -- and warns that the commissioner is responsible for anything that might happen if the fortress is besieged without being provisioned. He is alarmed because the military administration service is working badly all the time, and has a good mind to put the money at the disposal of the Central Agency since Administration is keeping all the money without passing anything on to the Army (lightly browned, hole caused by thickness of ink in the flourish below signature). With 20 other autograph letters relating to the Napoleonic era, including a letter from Rome, dated April 8th 1809, with rare frank mark, and several letters and examples of printed ephemera relating to the French Revolution in two modern albums. Of particular interest is a 3-page autograph letter, signed by J. Dring, from Paris, June 23rd 1791, to the Right Honourable Dr. Richard Heron, describing the flight of Louis XVI and his family and the general unrest in the city: "On Tuesday morning about 9 o'clock with horror painted in every face the people ran wildly about the streets, & no other words were to be heard but, Roi est parti ... The streets were immediately filled with national guards ... the shops were shut and Paris exhibited a scene of the greatest terror and dismay ... I found the mob had entered the palace with the national guard ... neither the king, the dauphin, the queen, the kings brother, his aunt, or Madame Elizabeth were to be found ... Mr. de la Fayette and Mr. Bailly the mayor went round the city ordered the barriers to be shut and that not a person should be suffered to pass ... No names could be found bad enough for his majesty, he was called weak, perjured, rascal; every villainous epithet was mentioned with the greatest applause." He goes on to describe the escape and the eventual re-capture of the King (creased on folds, torn with loss of text on fore-edge). (2)