Napoleon--St Helena | Collection of documents relating to Napoleon's imprisonment, c. 1807-1840

Napoleon I--St Helena

letters by Englishmen who were connected with Napoleon's custody on St Helena:

i) 3rd Earl Bathurst, as Secretary of State for War, autograph letter signed, to Marquess Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington, reporting the satisfactory outcome of three military actions ("...every thing is as you could wish...."), integral address leaf with seal, Downing Street, 16 August 1812, 1 page, 4to

ii) Sir John Barrow (second secretary to the Admiralty, responsible for the choice of St Helena as the place of Napoleon's captivity), autograph letter signed, to Messieurs Cadell and Davis, concerning a sum of money to be lodged with Coutts Bank, 10 July 1807, 1 page, 4to

iii) Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Lord Holland, autograph letter signed, to Jonas Howell at Prinknash Park suggesting several individuals who might be named as executors, 2 pages, 8vo, 5 February 1822, with autograph free front 

iv) Henry [?] Drake, autograph letter signed, to William Blake in Ruscombe, Berks, giving an eyewitness description of Napoleon's appearance on board the Bellerophon at Plymouth, integral address leaf, 3 pages, folio, 5 August 1815

v-vi) two printed Parliamentary Bill regarding Napoleon's detention, 14 March and 8 May 1816, together 6 pages, folio

vii) copy letter to the Crown Commissioners, relating to the purchase of three acres of land on St Helena, 1 page, 4to, 29 June 1840

[with:] file of photocopies and transcripts relating to Napoleon

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's, London, 15 May 1996, lot 237