Napoleon and The Fair Sex.
MASSON, Frederic [Napoleon de Bonaparte].
Napoleon and The Fair Sex.
Extra-Illustrated Edition of Frederic Masson's Napoleon and The Fair Sex; Illustrated with 80 Extra Engraved Portraits and Finely Bound by Root & Son
London: William Heinemann, 1984.
$1,500.00
In Stock
Item Number: 151583
Extra-illustrated edition, with 80 extra engraved portraits, of Octavo, two volumes bound in full crushed levant morocco by Root & Son with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, quadruple gilt ruling with gilt cornerpieces and central gilt emblem to the front and rear panels, gilt turn=ins and elaborately gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by Root & Son, silk-watered endleaves and pastedowns, all edges gilt, ribbon bound in, hand-coloured portrait frontispiece of Napoleon, and 9 monochrome portraits (Josephine in sepia), extra-illustrated with an additional 80 portraits. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom slipcase.
First published in 1894, Frédéric Masson’s Napoleon and the Fair Sex reflects the author’s broader scholarly engagement with the private life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Masson (1847–1923), a French historian and member of the Académie française, was widely recognized for his meticulous use of documentary sources, particularly correspondence, to illuminate the personal dimensions of Napoleon’s career. This work forms part of that larger body of research, examining Napoleon’s relationships with women as a means of better understanding his character and the social context of his rule. Extra-illustrated copies of the work were produced in keeping with the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century bibliophilic practice of “grangerization,” whereby owners augmented printed texts with additional portraits, prints, letters, and other visual or manuscript materials. Such enhancement was intended to deepen the historical and aesthetic value of the volume, transforming it into a unique, often more comprehensive artifact that reflected both the subject matter and the collector’s scholarly and curatorial interests.
