NAPOLEON - SLOANE, William Milligan.

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Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. First edition, abundantly extra-illustrated with signed documents and engravings: an extraordinary and unique testament to the age of Napoleon. Twelve autographs of Napoleon feature among 370 autograph letters and documents, presenting the signatures of most of the leading figures of Europe at the time. The illustrations comprise 1,220 engraved portraits, views, and battle scenes, of which 364 are proofs.The signed documents comprise letters, documents, military orders, and receipts, ranging from grand vellum legal documents to brief personal notes. The individuals included present a panorama of the age in all its military, political, and cultural spheres. Included are the members of the old order which Napoleon swept away: Necker, whose failure to enact financial reforms led to the Revolution, Louis XIV, the "Sun King" who epitomized French monarchical grandeur, and Louis XVIII, the French king in exile. Napoleon's adversaries are there, both in international politics (Frederick William III of Prussia, Metternich of Austria, British Prime Ministers William Pitt and George Canning), and on the battlefield (Wellington, and many British and continental generals). So is Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first black leader in the Americas, whom Napoleon overthrew.Napoleon's supporters are also present, including all of his Marshalls, and several of his family members, many of whom he appointed as monarchs of his Empire

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