73 Hazlitt, in his Life, originally published in 1828, “cherished an idolatry for his hero, singular in one who boasted of an uncompromising love of political liberty; but he regarded Napoleon as representing antagonism to the doctrine of the divine right of kings” (DNB). “Bourrienne, a French statesman, studied at the military school of Brienne, where he was on friendly terms with the young Napoleon. In 1797 he became Napoleon’s secretary,” an appointment which “continued during all the most brilliant part of Napoleon’s career” and afforded him the intimacy upon which the Memoirs, which first appeared in English in 1830, are based (CBD). Madame Junot knew the Bonaparte family almost from childhood. After her husband’s death, she took to writing for a living. Her 1831 Memoirs give an excellent, if not always wholly reliable, picture of court, military, diplomatic, and literary society of the period. Talleyrand, the celebrated diplomat associated with Bonaparte’s coup d’etat and the Emperor’s trusted advisor, eventually represented France at the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon’s downfall. Spines evenly toned on Talleyrand volumes only. A few documents with minor expert paper repairs, Volume XIV with expert reinforcement to joints. A magnificent set, historically significant and richly produced.
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