LOT RR Auction  /  RR Auction Quality Autograph Auction 356  / 

387

Napoleon

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:0.00 USD
Napoleon

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2010 Apr 14 @ 10:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
LS in French, signed “Bonaparte,” one page both sides, 9 x 10.5, attractive and uncommon printed letterhead reading, “Bonaparte, Général en Chief de L’Armée d’Italie,” no date, but dated on the docket in an unknown hand March 6, 1797. Letter to “the Commander Sibille Commandant the navy in the Adriatic Sea.” Translated in full: “Order is given to you Commander to leave as soon as receipt of this order with the frigate La Brune with all the corsairs, and other battleships that are at our disposal, which will go to Venice where it is mandatory that they arrive on the 24th. Except if unavoidable reason prevents it, they will receive further order in Venice from the Minister of the Republic, and will let me know of their arrival in that city by sending me a report on the state of the flotilla, their crew and of the people they could be carrying and number of cannons that they have. This account will be brought to me to the place which will be designated by the Minister of the Republic in Venice by a crew officer who will be going there on post. Commander Sibille will arrest and bring with him all the French Corsairs armed on behalf of private individuals. You will charge on a transport vessel one hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, five thousand gun flints and five hundred guns munitions in a working state that you will escort to Venice. When you arrive in Venice you will see to it that your convoy does not communicate with ground, you will have in fact all possible guards for the Venetians.”

Docketed on the reverse, “Mantoue, Order from General in Chief Bonaparte to Gen Sibille commandant the navy in the Adriatic Sea to go to Venice with all the battleships at his disposal. 16 Ventose year 5.” Expert restoration to missing top left corner, with portions of three missing letters penciled in, light toning along intersecting folds, scattered soiling and a few stains, a couple of small holes to a single line of text, and a block of toning over the letterhead, otherwise very good condition.

With Napoleon’s invasion of Italy complete, he turned his attention toward forging an “alliance” with the Republic of Venice. To assist in the negotiations, Napoleon’s relied upon a policy of gunboat diplomacy, boasted of by his assertion here that “all the corsairs, and other battleships that are at our disposal” had been dispatched to Venice. It was an order that soon would bring an end to more than 1,000 years of Venetian independence. With negotiating power that included “one hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, five thousand gun flints and five hundred guns munitions in a working state,” such “gentle persuasion” failed to convince the Venetian Great Council to consider Napoleon’s proposals of democratic reform and a forced alliance. Though Venice opted for neutrality following the French invasion of Italy, French forces eventually attacked the republic, causing its fall on May 12, 1797. Historic association, setting in motion the end of a centuries-old republic. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
Sign In to Bookmark Lot