Comte de Las Cases - Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène - 1824

Fascinating eight-volume set of one of the most famous and influential testimonies on Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile on Saint Helena after his final defeat -

Written as a journal of conversations, observations and memories, the work recreates the daily exchanges between Las Cases and Napoleon during their captivity, between 1815 and 1816, before the author’s expulsion from the island -

Far more than a simple exile narrative, the book constitutes a genuine mnemonic and political construction intended to shape Napoleon’s posthumous image -

He is portrayed here as a visionary statesman, an incomparable strategist and a victim of the European powers, particularly of England, accused of keeping him in unjust and humiliating conditions -

The text alternating personal anecdotes, historical reflections, military analyses and philosophical considerations, offers a complex portrait of the former emperor. Napoleon revisits the major episodes of his career, justifies some of his political and military decisions, criticizes his adversaries and lays out his vision of history, of power and of society -

Count de Las Cases - Memorial of Saint Helena - 1824 - Vols. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII - Collective -

486+472+464+469+460+462+459+568 pp.

Good condition of bindings, volumes in their full antique brown morocco leather, wear from use, headpieces, corners and spines worn, red speckled edges, smooth backs adorned, titled, paginations and author’s name gilded on pieces of red and green morocco, gilded garlands framing the boards –

Good interior condition, foxing scattered, small vignette on title page, marbled endpapers in good condition, a pleasant overall set –

Delivery service guaranteed within a few days –