[Napoléon] Pascalis de la Sestrière - ALS + Ode sur la Paix - 1796

Army of Italy — Bonaparte — Pascalis de la Sestrière (1796)
Autograph letter + Printed Ode presented to Bonaparte
Milan, 12 Brumaire & 18 Frimaire Year V (1796).

Exceptional ensemble composed of:

1. Autograph letter signed “Pascalis”
Format 30x40 cm folded in two, header engraved Liberté – Égalité, Army of Italy, Headquarters of Milan.
Adjutant-general Antoine-André-Claude Pascalis de la Sestrière, deputy Chief of Staff to Bonaparte, writes to General Vial to convey two copies of the ode presented to the Commander-in-Chief (Napoleon Bonaparte...) on the occasion of the peace.
Letter of major historical interest, bearing witness to Pascalis’s literary and propagandist role within the staff.

General Honoré Vial is a prominent name of the Revolution and the Empire, who distinguished himself at the Pont d’Arcole and participated in the Egyptian Campaign.

Antoine-André-Claude Pascalis (1755–1833) was a Savoyard officer, entered French service, who served in Bonaparte’s staff during the Italian campaign, held the position of deputy Chief of Staff, drafted most of the proclamations and texts aimed at galvanizing the troops, commanded several strongholds in Italy, continued his career in the south of France after 1800, and led a double life: soldier and poet, author of the Poems of Fontainebleau and of Monte Viso.

2. Original printed item: Ode on Peace, presented to General Bonaparte
Format 30x40 cm folded in two, dated 12 Brumaire.
Contextual piece celebrating the peace of 1796, typical of the Army of Italy’s literary output, at a crucial moment when Bonaparte becomes a national figure. The peace of 1796 is “the Milan Peace,” in other words the end of hostilities between France and Austria in Italy, after Bonaparte’s dazzling victories. It is not yet the final peace (which would be the Campo de’ Formio peace in 1797), but a provisional peace, a political and moral armistice, celebrated by the army and by local authorities.
Rare text, very probably written or supervised by Pascalis, known for his proclamations and military writings.

A rare meeting of a contextual printed piece and its military sending letter, both tied to Bonaparte. The letter explicitly accompanies the ode. It is a direct testimony of the moral and literary communication around Bonaparte during the Italian campaign.
It should be noted that documents signed by Pascalis de la Sestrière are rare.

Condition
Very good overall; paper slightly browned; header engraving clear; text perfectly legible.

Careful shipment via tracked mail