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NAPOLEON
Was It or Wasn't It
“It”
(A
RELIC)? Rosenbach Company (booksellers,
Philadelphia).
Description of the Vignali Collection of relics of Napoleon. Philadelphia: The
Rosenbach Company, 1924. Sq. 8vo. [5] ff., 3 plts.
$200.00
Cevallos, Pedro. Exposicion de los hechos y maquinaciones que han preparado la usurpacion de la corona de España, y los medios que el Emperor de los Franceses ha puesto en obra para realizarla. Mallorca: En la imprenta de Melchor Guasp, 1808. 4to (19.5 cm, 7.625"). 60 pp. [bound with] Cevallos, Pedro de. Política peculiar de Buonaparte en quanto a la religion católica.... Palma[, Mallorca]: En la imprenta de Brusi, 1812. 4to. 48 pp.
$775.00

Two significant
Mallorcan imprints of the Napoleonic wars by Pedro Cevallos (1764–1840). The Exposicion details the perfidy of Napoleon in Spain, in particular his luring of Ferdinand VII away from Madrid and the placing of Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. This piece proved an effective piece of anti-French propaganda, was widely published, and was translated into Portuguese, English, German, and French. In the Politica peculiar Cevallos reveals Napoleon’s attitude toward the Church, and his desire, if he could not absolutely destroy Catholicism, at least to bring it under thorough state subjection. Both of these editions were issued in Mallorca and they are rare: We were able to trace
only one copy of each in the U.S. via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN.
Exposicion: Palau 54257. Política peculiar: this edition not in Palau. Contemporary acid-stained calf simply gilt with brown leather label on each spine; scattered wormholes and some loss of leather over corners and at base of spine. Endpapers stencilled red and green. Some interior worming, most noticeable in endpapers and first title-page, resulting in loss of parts of letters without loss of sense. Scattered light foxing and a few leaves shallowly dog-eared. Inked ownership inscription on title-pages. All edges speckled red.

Memoirs of
the Minister of Police
Fouché, Joseph. The memoirs of Joseph Fouché, Duke of Otranto, minister of the general police of France. London: Charles Knight (William Clowes, pr.), 1825. 8vo. Frontis. port., viii, 357, [3], 329, [1] pp.
$235.00
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First English edition of the memoirs of France's notorious chief police officer during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era. As Minister of Police under the Directory, Joseph Fouché (1759 or 1763–1820) was instrumental in reorganizing and centralizing the police system in France and was kept on by Napoleon until he fell out of favor in 1802. However, his network of intelligence gathering proved invaluable to Napoleon, who reinstated him in 1804 (until 1810) and again during the Hundred Days. The authenticity of these memoirs is no longer in doubt and they provide some insight into the political intrigues of the period. It's also an extremely self-serving work — he writes on p. 2 that he never wielded his “mysterious and terrible power” except to “calm the passions, disunite factions, and prevent conspiracies.” Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author. Two volumes bound in one.
NSTC 2F12262, 2J13268, & 2B13609. Green cloth over boards, gilt rules and lettering to spine; cloth worn away at spine extremities and corners and splitting over front joint; preliminary pages (including frontispiece) and pp. 1–2 separated from binding. Private ownership signature at top edge of title-pages; a (different) private owner's pressure- and rubber-stamps; institutional bookplate. Off-setting to six pages from old newspaper articles or leaves laid in; old newspaper article (a review of a much later biography of Fouché) still inserted; Inner margin of pp. 327–8 repaired, not affecting text. Spotting and staining of various sorts and a few dog-ears; not a swell copy but a perfectly serviceable one. (14222)
O’Neill, Thomas. A treatise on the eighteen manoeuvres.... Likewise, observations on the interior regulation of companies.... London: Pr. by R. Edwards, 1805. 8vo (24.4 cm, 9.625"). 128 pp.; 19 plates.
$975.00
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As historians have pointed out, a major factor in Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo was the invincible steadiness of the British troops—a steadiness inculcated by constant drill. This period manual for the British infantry gives the order of review for a battalion followed by 18 standard maneuvers, including charging, retreating, and forming hollow squares. Commands are given for each facing an illustrated plate of the maneuver, followed by explanatory notes. After the maneuvers come a manual of arms, platoon exercise, an explanation of the formation of companies and battalions, and various regulations, including some for surgeons. (10986)
This is this work’s sole edition, and we were able to trace six copies via OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956. Half of the copies are in U.S. military libraries, underscoring the volume’s importance as a military manual.
NSTC O363. Recent quarter red morocco over marbled paper with gilt-lettered spine. Upper outer corner of pp. 9–10 lost, repaired with paper resulting in no loss of text. Shallow chipping and tattering (with one tissue repair on title-page), not touching text or figures. Some brownstaining in margins. Rubber-stamps of a now-defunct library, including one on title-page. All edges gilt. (10986)
[Ségur,
Louis Philippe, comte de].
Étiquette du palais impérial. Année 1806. Paris: De l’imprimerie
impériale, 1806. 4to (25.7 cm, 9.9"). [1] f., 159, [1 (blank)] pp.
$2750.00


First edition of this uncommon guide to appropriate formal behavior in the Napoleonic
court, published just two years after Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.
Extremely precise descriptions of all court proceedings are provided, detailing
the etiquette of processions, balls and concerts, pages’ service, bureaucratic
functions as accomplished by individual officers, and the preparation of the
Emperor’s breakfast.
The work is generally attributed to the Comte
de Ségur, a diplomat and historian who served under Rochambeau in the
American War of Independence; he also published works on classical and Jewish
history.
Old-style blue morocco, covers framed
in double gilt fillets, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped
devices in compartments, leather turndowns tooled in blind. Tear in upper
margin of one leaf repaired very unobtrusively; several leaves with closed
tears or holes also professionally patched, just touching a few letters; one
leaf with clear tape covering tear. Pages washed, resized, and very clean,
with only a few faint spots; edges slightly brittle, with occasional very
short tears.
Scott, Jonathan M. Blue lights, or the convention. A poem in four cantos. New York: Charles N. Baldwin, 1817. 12mo (13.5 cm, 5.25"). [2], 150, [2 (blank)] pp. [bound with] Scott, Walter. Vision of Don Roderick. Boston: T.B. Wait & Co., 1811. 12mo. 74, [2 (blank)] pp. [and] Longstreet, Augustus Baldwin. Patriotic effusions; by Bob Short. New York: L. & F. Lockwood (J. & J. Harper, prs.), 1819. 12mo. 46, [2] pp. [and] Scott, Walter. Field of Waterloo. New York: Van Winkle & Wiley, 1815. 12mo. 48 pp. [and] Pitt, William. Letters written by the late Earl of Chatham to his nephew Thomas Pitt, Esq. Boston: C. Williams (T.B. Wait & Co., prs.), 1811. 12mo. 64 pp. (pp. 49–56 bound in at end).
$450.00
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Two first editions of early American poetry items (Blue Lights and Patriotic Effusions), bound with two early U.S. printings of poems by Sir Walter Scott, both issued in the year of their first U.S. appearance (priority not established), along with one of the more popular epistolary collections of the day. The first piece satirizes the Hartford Convention of 1814–15, while Longstreet’s poems mix genuine sentiment with mockery of contemporary politics.
Blue Lights: Wegelin 1132; Shaw & Shoemaker 42070. Vision: Shaw & Shoemaker 23893. Patriotic Effusions: Wegelin 1045; Shaw & Shoemaker 48509. Waterloo: Shaw & Shoemaker 35871. Letters: Shaw & Shoemaker 23699. Contemporary sheep, covers framed in single gilt roll, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorative bands; binding a little rubbed at joints and extremities. Front pastedown with early inked ownership inscription; free endpapers excised. Trimmed closely, in occasional instances just touching outermost letters. Some age-toning and spotting; one leaf with ink stain not obscuring text, two leaves with tears from outer margins extending into text. Intermittent pencilled underlining and small marks. Pp. 49–56 of Letters bound in at end.

“A Glorious Period of the Past”
Sor, Charlotte de. Napoleon and his times. Philadelphia: E.L. Carey & A. Hart, 1838. 12mo (19.2 cm, 7.5"). 2 vols. I: viii, [13]–253, [1 (blank)] pp. II: viii, [13]–230 pp.
$200.00

First edition of this English translation: Faux memoirs
of Napoleon's exploits and those of his intimates, sometimes attributed to Armand-Augustin-Louis
de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza. Caulaincourt was a French general, diplomat,
and close friend of Napoleon who accompanied the Emperor to Russia — but
he was not in fact responsible for this work, which was written by Charlotte
de Sor, a.k.a. Comtesse d'Eilleaux (née Désormeaux).
De Sor depicts both Caulaincourt and Napoleon as romantic heroes.
Click
the images for enlargements.
Binding: Publisher's
ribbon-embossed green geometric-patterned cloth of Krupp's style Gt2; original
printed paper labels.
Do
please click to enhance the image of this handsome American binding cloth
it's hard to show, but worth trying to see!
American Imprints 49627. On the binding, see: Krupp,
Bookcloth in England & America, 1823–1850, Gt2. Bindings
as above, cocked; edges, extremities, labels rubbed, chipped, spotted —
far from fresh, but also far from devastated. Ex–social club library:
bookplate on each front pastedown, call numbers in a 19th-century hand (lined
through) on pastedown and front free endpaper, title-pages and a few others
rubber-stamped. No other institutional markings. Front hinge (inside) of vol.
I starting, text block pulling away from spine, first few leaves starting
to separate. Front fly-leaf with pencilled numeral and
pencilled
doodle/sketch of a chubby child; occasional faint pencilled
annotations. A few scattered spots of staining, pages mostly clean. (26294)
[Walsh,
Robert]. A letter on the genius and dispositions of the French government,
including a view of the taxation of the French Empire. Addressed to a friend,
by an American recently returned from Europe.
Philadelphia:
Hopkins & Early; also by P.H. Kicklin & Co. [and in Baltimore
and elsewhere by other publishers], 1810. 8vo (23.2 cm; 9.125"). iv, 253, [1 (blank)]
pp.
$300.00

An explanation of the tyranny that Napoleonic bureaucracy imposed
upon the empire, with an especial focus on the oppressive tax system. The author
was a leading Catholic-American literary critic, founder of the first American
quarterly, The American Review of History and Politics, and founder
and editor of the American Quarterly Review. This extended pamphlet
draws on Walsh's three years of travel and study in France and Britain as a
young man. It was republished in England and Lord Jeffrey said of it, in the
Edinburgh Review (1853, p. 799), "We must learn to love the Americans
when they send us such books as this" (cf. New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia).
Sabin 101158; Shaw & Shoemaker 21936. 19th-century quarter
green morocco with marbled paper sides; round spine with raised bands, gilt
center ornaments in three compartments, title in gilt in one compartment.
Ex–Library
Company of Philadelphia, properly deaccessioned. Joints rubbed,
top of spine pulled; foxing and staining. Uncut.
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