TWO DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY NAPOLEON, ONE BY EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, TWO BY EMPRESS MARIE-LOUISE, AND ONE BY NAPOLEON'S SON THE DUC DE REICHSTADT, MAGNIFICENTLY PRESENTED IN AN ELABORATE FOLIO VOLUME BOUND WITH FOUR COSWAY-STYLE PORTRAITS AND AN 1804 MEDAL LAID INTO THE DOUBLURES

NAPOLEON. A Memento of Napoleon I Emperor of France. Comprising Letters and Documents of Himself, His Two Empresses Josephine and Marie Louise and His Son the Duc de Reichstadt, Embellished with Miniatures on Ivory. Paris and other places, circa 1804-1832. Large folio (13 by 16 inches), early 20th century full red morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated spine and boards, with blue, white and black morocco onlays depicting Napoleonic arms and symbols, front blue morocco gilt doublure with four inset portaits on Ivory, rear blue morocco gilt doublure with inset medallion under hinged glass cover, watered silk endpapers, all edges gilt. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $40,000.

An extraordinary production: a collection of documents inscribed and signed by Napoleon, his two Empresses Josephine and Marie Louise, and his son Napoleon II, Duc de Reichstadt, presented together in a folio volume magnificently bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with an elaborate inlaid coat of arms on the front board, gilt Napoleonic bees, four Cosway-style portraits under glass inlaid on the front doublure, and an 1804 Napoleonic medallion inlaid on the rear doublure, with introductory text and translations in a beautiful calligraphic hand.

This stunning binding has Napoleon's imperial coat of arms on the front board done in inlaid blue, navy and white morocco inlays, each corner with an elaborately gilt crowned "N," all against a backdrop patterned with gilt bees (Napoleon's personal emblem); the rear board is similarly patterned but without the coat of arms, as is the spine. The front doublure has four Cosway-style portraits on ivory and under glass set in, one each of Napoleon, Josephine, Marie Louise, and Napoleon II. The rear doublure features a 1804 medallion, a product of the Paris mint, displaying Napoleon crowned and robed as Emperor, held aloft on a shield by four helmeted warriors; it is inset beneath a hinged glass cover. The text itself, all done in a beautiful calligraphic hand, includes a brief introductory account of Napoleon, his wives and his son; each document is preceded by a translation, with decorated initials.

The six documents in this collection, each mounted to a thick leaf with a translation on the following leaves, are:

1. An autograph note signed by Napoleon written by him at the foot of a letter to him from the engineer Meuron, asking to be allowed to join the army as an engineer. Napoleon's note at the bottom reads "Accepted for service under the orders of Citizen Bavale. Bonaparte. Send to P—- / B."

2. An 1805 reprieve signed by Napoleon on the occasion of his coronation written on a letter addressed to the Emperor by one Cotterel advocate pleading for the reprieve of a soldier condemned to death for having deserted during the coronation fetes. The Emperor has signed a note at the head of the letter: "Urgent demand, the execution to take place on Sunday. Send to the Chief Justice so that, should the case appear to him deserving, he may arrest the execution. NAP."

3. An 1808 letter signed by Empress Josephine addressed to one Madame Le Clerc on the death of her husband.

4. A 1813 Document signed by Empress Marie Louise as Queen Protectress of the Society of Maternal Charity in Lyon, nominating Madame Gerando to join the Administrative Council of the Society, signed "Louise."

5. A 1813 document signed by Marie Louise when acting as Regent, a certificate of retirement from the army of one Captain Commandant Moysen; signed "Marie Louise" and countersigned by Duc de Feltre, Minister of War, and Ambrun, Lord Chancellor of the Empire.

6. An unsigned seven-page autograph prose piece in Italian by Napoleon II, Duc de Reichstadt, the only son of Napoleon and Marie Louise, a translation from the French of a letter to Signor Thiriot who is severely upbraided for having refused a post under the Duc de Richelieu; and also a description of two visits to Museums of Art.

Bookplate. Fine condition. A magnificent presentation of four documents signed and inscribed by Napoleon and his family.