Object details
Object number
U17s5
Creator(s)
Title
Recueil Méthodique
Date
1811
Medium
Printed ink on paper
Language
French
Publication Place
Paris
Binding Description
Dark red leather binding with gilded tooled decoration on covers and spine.
Description
183 p. 44cm.
Dimensions
44 x 30 x 5 cm (17 5/16 x 11 13/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Embossed (on front and back cover): coat of arms of Napoleon
Inscribed in pencil (front flylelaf, reverse, top): 1222/342
Inscribed in pencil (front flyleaf, reverse, top, right): Autograph of/ Napoleon/ Bonaparte
Pasted (inside): a document signed “Buonaparte”
Pasted (inside): a letter dated 7 Septembre 1807 / Madame Dillon / j’ai recu votre letter. Je vous si ai accorde sur le tresor de ma couronne une pension de dix mille francs et sur le tresor Imperial une pension de trios mille francs. Je suis fort aise d’avoir trouve cette occasion de vous donner une prevue de mon desir de vous etre agreeable. Cette letter n’etant a autre fin, je prie Dieu qu’il vous ait en sa sainte garde. A Rambouillet le 7 Septembre 1807. / Napoleon / Accepte pour l’infanterie du 6 Bataillon. / Buonaparte
Pasted (opposite title page, top left): Isabella Stewart Gardner's bookplate
Signed in pencil (title page, top left): I.S. Gardner
Provenance
Gift of A. Piatt Andrew, Christmas 1907 or 1908.
Commentary
While attending finishing school in Paris during the 1850s, Isabella Stewart Gardner was captivated by French literature, culture, and history. Of particular note is her interest in the former French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. The French cadastre (a register of property value and ownership for taxation purposes) dates back to the 1789 Revolution, and was created to apportion land ownership taxes equitably. In 1807, Napoleon drew up a cadastral map for the entirety of French territory in an effort to ensure fiscal fairness. This book provides the first systematic classification of all articles of law, particularly as it relates to land ownership, under Napoleon's empire.
Bibliography
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 42 (19 Jun. 1966), p. 2.
Kathleen King,"Relics of an Emperor: Napoleon Bonaparte," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 August 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/relics-emperor-napoleon-bonaparte-gardner-museum
Gallery
Short Gallery
Case
Napoleon Case
Rights and reproductions
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