Napoléon Bonaparte; crop of The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries by Jacques-Louis David, 1812 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A letter written in English by Napoleon Bonaparte was sold at a French auction for 325,000 Euros. The letter was a homework exercise Napoleon sent to an English teacher, and is dated March 9, 1816. It was sold at the auction house Osenat in Fontainebleau. It was purchased by the French Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in Paris.
The letter was written after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, and while he was in exile at Saint Helena.
Wow! Pretty interesting stuff. I always found Napoleon an interesting character.
Hi allthingsboys,
He certainly was interesting.
A very rare letter, I’m glad a museum ended up with it.
It would be a shame for that not to be in a museum where it can be seen by a large number of people.
Hi mj monaghan,
I agree, apparently there was a lot bidding on the letter so it was good to see the museum get it in the end.
How fascinating! Thank you for sharing this Mags.
Hi Madhu,
It is fascinating, especially the letter being in English, very rare.
Very interesting … but I agree with mj in terms of being in a museum. Good stuff Mags.
Hi Frank,
I agree, at least it will eventually go on display for all to see, and it stays in Paris as well.
Cool.
I wonder how many private individuals vs museums were bidding on it.
Hi El Guapo,
I don’t know how many private individuals were bidding, but from the price it was sold at, I would say there may have been a few, a private collector would of loved to have this letter, and being written in English makes it very rare indeed.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing, Mags.
Hi Naomi,
It certainly is.
WOW! Great sale… He is one of interesting characters in the history. Thank you dear Mags, love, nia
Hi Nia,
The letter did sell for a lot of money, but really it is priceless I feel.
Totally fascinating. It makes me wonder how much other stuff there is like this stored away.
Hi loonyliterature,
It certainly does make you wonder, I would love to know the history of where this letter as been, I think that in itself would be fascinating.
Me too. Imagine if it could talk and tell it’s story.
It would be a very interesting story, who had it after Napoleon, where has it been all this time, the list goes on.
Yes, the more I think about it, the more interesting it becomes. I can’t imagine how exciting it must be to discover something like that which hasn’t previously been in the public eye.
Oh wow! I wish I had one or two of his letters hanging around in the attic.
Hi writingfeemail,
It would be nice.
I always think I am going to find a rare antiquity like this in one of my estate sale finds some day. Yes…I am delusional.
Hi Bliss,
You never know, I think things like that happen more than we realize.
He certainly made a big blunder at Waterloo and paid the price, which in the end i think he would have regretted
.
Hi Windsmoke,
Yes I think you are certainly right about that.
Great post, Mags! Cheers.
Hi This Sydney Life,
Glad you enjoyed the post.
Enjoyed that informative piece of history
Great find and well worth a place in history
Aussie Ian
Hi Aussie Ian,
It is great to know that others will be able to see it as well now that it is in the hands of a museum.
Thanks Mags. Sir George Cockburn, who with General Robert Ross, burnt down Washington D.C. (including the White House) in the War of 1812, escorted Napolean to St. Helena and, was for a time, Governor of the island and Napolean’s gaoler. He wrote a book of his conversations with Napolean Bonaparte, during the voyage from England to St. Helena aboard HMS Northumberland. These make interesting reading.
Hi Mal,
Wow, thank you very much for that information, that is amazing. I agree, the books would be very interesting to read indeed.
I’m surprised it didn’t go for more money? Wouldn’t it be great to stumble on to something like that?
Hi A Gripping Life,
I would really like to stumble across something like this letter, what a find that would be.
Did he type it on his MacBook Pro?
Hi robincoyle,
I’m sure if he would of had one he would of used it.
Without a doubt, this is THE SPOT where I learn something new every day — thank you.
Hi Laurie,
I am glad that I am able to show you something you haven’t seen.
Hi Mags – I’m back!! That’s a lot of money for a letter…but I understand. ~Sherry~
Hi Sherry,
Welcome back, it’s good to know your home, although I suspect you would like to have had your holiday last a bit longer.
The letter sold for more than they expected, there was a bit of a bidding war going on over it, but to me something like this is priceless, it can not be replaced.
Hi, Mags, very interesting post! 325,000 euros? That’s hefty! Plus, it’s almost double our money here😊
Hi Aina,
It is just under $US 406,000, it is a lot of money, but this letter can never be replaced so it is hard to say how much is too much, but they did get more for the letter than what they thought.
Thats why it should really just go to the museum. because such kind of memorabilia of icon figures should be preserved by the government. coz in my opinion, it has so much historical value that would surely fascinate the coming generation too.
I agree, and I was very pleased when a museum received it, I assume in time they will put it on show. I know here in Oz, there is always school excursions to museums, I assume they do this in other places as well, and to have something like this for an English class to view, or a History class, would be the icing on the cake I’m sure.
oh for sure. thats I’m just thankful we have you here = ) for the kind of pieces ur sharing aren’t just educational, but enriching = ) thank you mags. two thumbs up for u all the time = )
Thank You, for those very kind words.
Mags i got to tell you,I truly love your posts. they make us laugh and smile and fill us with wonderment. I think your blog is the most entertaining,informative and well written blog I have read.
hugs
Hi Soma,
Thank You so very much, for your very kind words, it is wonderful to know that you enjoy the posts, Thank You.
Thank you … for showing this. Our royal family – is french. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, was Napoleons best friend and when the Swedish government wrote to Napoleon and ask if he had somebody that he could recommend for the Swedish thorn and crown – because we run out … all dead. He sent his best friend, that became Kung Karl XIV Johan of Sweden but also Karl III Johan of Norway. in 1818,
Hi Viveka,
Thank You very much for the information, so very interesting, I didn’t know about Napoleons friend at all.
I think more should be made of Napoleon as a writer … after all, he did once say:
‘It is not enough to write (your dispatches) so that everyone could understand them. You must write so that nobody can possibly misunderstand them’
(It is said that one member of his staff was the stupidest officer he could find. Napoleon would give him his dispatches to read before he sent them, reasoning that if he could understand them, anyone could. In the Air Force, we’d often hand a signal or letter we were about to send to a colleague, sayng ‘Do a Napoleon’s Aide on that, would you?’
Hi travelrat,
Very interesting about the staff member, and good thinking on Napoleons part as well.
That is rather funny about the Air Force and the saying.
Now that is interesting!
Hi Colline,
That it is.
325,000 Euros – as the French say, sacrebleu!
Hi AA,
Oh yes, an old letter to your teacher is worth a lot of money.
Yikes! Now there are political ads to muddle through on YouTube… I wonder if someday in the future the writings of our current world leaders will arouse so much interest. Fascinating information, Mags!
Hi Barbara,
Yes unfortunately ads are on a lot of You Tube videos now, the only way to get around them is by using firefox with ad block.
Somehow I don’t think so, but you just never know.
This one is an interesting story Mags. A letter of 1816, it’s a really wonderful thing to store it in a museum. I always love to read about Napoleon.
Hi Arindam,
Best place for the letter to end up of course, for all to know and learn more about Napoleon, how many people knew that Napoleon was learning English for example.
What is most incredible about this story is that, that letter has survived. WOW. What an amazing piece of history. Imagine owning it…..
Hi Selma,
I would love to know the story behind the letter, it would be fascinating I am sure, and I agree I would love to own something like this.
Well done finding this, Mags!
Hi Lady Marilyn,
Thank You, I’m glad you liked the post.
I wish Napoleon had mailed that letter to my great-great-grandfather.
Hi bronxboy55,
Oh yes that would of been excellent, but it does make you wonder where the letter has been all this time.
He had a bit of a disability and, still, almost ruled the world! Makes me wonder what I can do?!
Scott
Hi Scott,
It does show you what can be achieved if you put your mind to it.
It’s so interesting when you can find somthing that’s actually from a part of History that has somthing tangiable to hold. It really is interesting. I guess that’s probably why artifacts are so amazing, because it gives us more information about the past.
Hi starlaschat,
I totally agree, we do learn more when things like this surface, Napoleon learning English, and learning how to write in English, I think is one of the things a lot of people learned from this find.
Cool, Mags. Thanks!
Hi Elyse,
I agree it is cool.
Thanks for letting me camp out in your blog for a little while. I had a great time and tried to leave my campsite as clean as when I arrived. I’ll be back!
Hi Russel Ray Photos,
Thank You very much for looking at some of the posts, and the great comments as well.
That is amazing to find something like that! I am glad it is in a museum!
Hi Michael,
I agree, being in a Museum is a very good thing. I wonder how many people actually new that Napoleon was learning English. Good also for the kids that happen to go there, to learn a little bit more of the history.
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