In the Summer of 1895 the art gallery of Boussod, Valadon et Cie. held a competion for a poster to advertise a biography of Napoleon by William Milligan Sloan. The winning poster was to be published in the Century Magazine in New York in 1896. Although the artist tried to give an accurate representation of the historical facts, down to the details of the uniforms, his design was rejected by the jury. Thereupon Lautrec decided to have a special edition printed at his own expense.