History Holiday 2022 - 84 - “A Profound And Searching Analysis Of A Towering Subject”: First Edition Of Walter Scott’s Life Of Napoleon, Handsomely Bound 81. SCOTT, Walter. The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, Emperor of the French. With a Preliminary View of the French Revolution. Edinburgh and London, 1827. Nine volumes. Octavo, modern half tan calf gilt. $7500. First edition of this account of Napoleon by the most celebrated author of the early 19th century, beautifully bound. “Scott’s command of structure is remarkable, his narrative skill striking. The Napoleon is… a profound and searching analysis of a towering subject” (Edgar Johnson). This work embroiled Scott in a controversy with General Gourgaud, the French historian who followed Napoleon into exile, about whom Scott had published certain documents. “There was some talk of a duel, which ‘pleasantly stimulated’ Scott’s feelings; but the affair blew over without a challenge” (DNB). Gourgaud later published a “refutation” of Scott. Bound without half titles and errata slips. Todd & Bowden 200Aa. Interiors quite clean, binding handsome.
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