NAPOLEON – Autograph manuscript signed, written in Saint Helena.

NAPOLEON (1769.1821)

Autograph manuscript signed " Napoleon " in the text.

One folio page.

Longwood, Saint Helena. Undated (1816)

Autographed postscript signed by Emmanuel de Las Cases, and his son.

An extraordinary and very precious manuscript by the fallen Emperor, written on the island of Saint Helena, offering an early version of the plan for part of his Memoirs.

A very rare relic from the exile of Saint Helena, this manuscript corresponds to the summary of the text entitled " 13 Vendémiaire ", which appeared as chapter III of the " Italian War " section of the Memoirs published in 1823 by Las Cases.

The heading of the sheet was written by the son of Emmanuel de Las Cases, occasional secretary to Napoleon on Saint Helena, indicating a title and a summary in three points:

From 13 Vendémiaire (5 8bre 1795) to the end of March 1796. A period of 6 months.

13 Vendémiaire.

Command of the Home Army.

Appointment to command the Army of Italy.

Napoleon crossed out this text and wrote ten chapter headings below it, the last of which, " Napoleon is appointed commander-in-chief of the army of Italy, " was crossed out by him:

I. Constitution of Year 3

II. Additional Laws to the Constitution

III The Additional Laws are accepted by the majority of the primary assemblies but rejected in Paris.

IV. Open resistance from the Paris sections; they have the National Guard at their disposal.

V Menou is dismissed from the chief command of the Interior Army and is placed under arrest.

VI. Provisions of the National Guard of Paris to attack the Tuileries. Defense of the Convention.

VII Combat of the 13th Vendémiaire.

VIII The day after 13 Vendémiaire

IX Napoleon is appointed commander-in-chief of the army of the interior.

X Napoleon is appointed commander-in-chief of the army of Italy.

At the bottom of the page, a handwritten note signed by Emmanuel de Las Cases reads:

"Written by Napoleon at Longwood; original manuscript of the Italian campaigns. To Mr. W. Fraser at Delhi. Passy, ​​July 22, 1825. By the Count of Las Cases."

The Scottish orientalist William Fraser (1784-1835) spent a long time in Delhi, India, where, initially secretary to the British Consul, he was appointed Consul himself in 1833 until his assassination in 1835. A collector of manuscripts, particularly oriental ones, he received from Las Cases two relics from Saint Helena: a lock of Napoleon's hair, and the present manuscript.

THE MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON :

Napoleon had said to his last loyal followers in 1814: " I will write about the great things we have done together," and confirmed it again to Las Cases at the beginning of August 1815: "We will write our Memoirs. Yes, we must work; work is also the scythe of time. After all, one must fulfill one's destiny; that is also my great doctrine. Well then! Let mine be fulfilled."

Aware of the major role he had played in the history of his time, he devoted long hours on Saint Helena to dictating – and more rarely writing – accounts of his campaigns, as well as military and political analyses of his era. The deposed Emperor sought to shape his image for posterity, he who had, in his time, masterfully used all means of communication to project his public persona as a victorious revolutionary general, a peacemaking first consul and legislator, and finally as a benevolent emperor.

The publication of these " Memoirs " took place in several stages, from 1820 to 1869. They were first the subject of partial editions by Gourgaud in 1818, O'Meara in 1820 and Las Cases in 1823. In a still incomplete manner, and in a disrupted chronological order, a large edition was given in 1823-1825 under the title of Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de France sous Napoléon Ier, republished in 1830 in a restored chronology, while the part devoted to Egypt, which remained unpublished, appeared separately in 1847.