Description:

CONTEMPORARY MANUSCRIPT COPY OF NAPOLEON'S REQUEST FOR ASYLUM 1815
A contemporary manuscript copy of Napoleon's request to George III for political asylum following the debacle at Waterloo, 1p. oblong 8vo., Roch[e]fort, July 15, 1815. The document, translated into English reads, in full: "Your Royal Highness In consequence of the factions which divide my Country & the enmity of the greatest powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career...transmitted to them myself upon the generosity of the British Nation, and place myself under the protection of its Laws which I entreat from your Royal Highness as being one of my most powerful, most constant, and most generous Enemies. Signed Napoleon". On June 18, 1815, combined British and Prussian armies defeated Napoleon in the climatic battle of Waterloo. In the weeks following, Napoleon, now a fugitive, attempted escape from France to the United Sates. In early July he arrived in Rochefort but found the HMS Bellerophon, commanded by Frederick Maitland, blocking the harbor. Napoleon opened negotiations on July 10 but his repeated requests for passage to America were denied. Maitland offered to take him to England instead On the 15th of July he formally requested political asylum and came aboard the Bellerophon with his staff and servants. After a very brief stay at Plymouth, Napoleon was sent off to his final exile at Saint Helena. Slightly uneven margins, else fine condition.

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January 21, 2010 10:00 AM EST
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