CARLO BONAPARTE | autograph letter signed, by Napoleon's father, to an unnamed gentleman, 1769

BUONAPARTE, CARLO MARIA DI (FATHER OF NAPOLÉON I)

AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("CARLO BUONAPARTE"), TO AN UNIDENTIFIED GENTLEMAN, PERHAPS NOBILITY, WRITTEN IN THE YEAR OF NAPOLEON'S BIRTH,

in Italian, apologising for leaving so quickly that he forgot the note that he now encloses (not included here), repeating his heartfelt thanks, informing him of his next day's departure for Bastia in Corsica ("...La breve partenza che feci da costi, fu causa che obliassi il foglio che l’accludo nella presente lettera, in cui le rinovo i miei ringraziamenti, e l’offerisco il mio nulla...."), 1 page, small 4to, integral blank, addressed ("Ill[ustriss]imo S[igno]r, S[igno]re P[ad]rone Col[endissi]mo"), Leghorn, 5 December 1769

This letter comes from the crucial year that marked the French conquest of Corsica and the birth of the future Napoléon I. Carlo Buonaparte (1746-1785), scion of minor Italian nobility, was a lawyer and diplomat. Although he had resisted the French take-over of Corsica in May 1769, he became legal Assessor in Ajaccio in September 1769. Napoléon I was born on 15 August, just qualifying to be regarded as French-born rather than Genoese.

PROVENANCE:

Albin Schram; sale of his collection, Christie's, London, 3 July 2007, lot 338

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