A gathering of manuscripts related to the House of Bonaparte. Includes a manuscript
and a letter written by Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, as well as several decrees
and orders signed by him, some with his annotations.
Call Number:
Manuscript Collection MS-54103
Language:
French, English, Italian
Access:
Open for research
Administrative Information
Processed by:
Joan Sibley and Michael Ramsey, 2011; Richard Workman, 2017
Note:
This finding aid replicates and replaces information previously available only in
a card catalog. Please see the explanatory note at the end of this finding aid for
information regarding the arrangement of the manuscripts as well as the abbreviations
commonly used in descriptions.
This collection was previously cataloged under the title Napoleon I, Emperor of the
French Collection, 1785-1813, undated. Additional manuscripts related to the French
emperors Napoleon I and Napoleon III and their families have been gathered together
expanding the scope of the original collection, now titled the House of Bonaparte
Collection, 1785-1879, undated.
The collection consists primarily of letters and official documents, all in French
unless noted otherwise. The collection is arranged alphabetically by author. It includes
a manuscript and a letter written by Napoleon I as well as several decrees and orders
signed by him, some with his annotations. Other correspondents include the Empress
Josephine; Queen Hortense; Empress Eugénie; Antoine-Marie Chamans, comte de La Valette;
and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent.
Related Materials
Extensive additional manuscript materials related to Napoleon I and the Bonaparte
family are in several extra-illustrated volumes in the Stark Library at the Ransom
Center; see the finding aid for Manuscripts in the Stark Books Collection. Additional
related material is located among the Marthe Bibesco Papers and the Carlton Lake Collection
of French Manuscripts. Napoleonic memorabilia is also present in the John Diederick
Holm Collection.
A number of objects associated with Napoleon I, including a lock of his hair and a
death mask, are in the Ransom Center’s Personal Effects Collections.
