HAZLITT’S LIFE OF NAPOLEON, RICHLY EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED
(NAPOLEON) HAZLITT, William. The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Paris and Boston: Napoleon Society, 1895. Six volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter red morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines with Napoleonic emblems, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, all edges gilt.
Limited "Edition de Grand Luxe" of Hazlitt's important biography of Napoleon, number 213 of 500 sets produced, with 39 engraved portraits and scenes—this set richly extra-illustrated with 157 additional plates, in six volumes handsomely bound by Bayntun.
First issued in 1828, it was this biography of Napoleon on which Hazlitt "was content to rest his claim to distinction as an author; it was his largest work and his last." Morocco bookplates of Julia Parker Wightman, who amassed an extraordinary library primarily composed of fine bindings, children's books, miniatures, and illustrated books, most of which she bequeathed to the Morgan Library, where she was a trustee. Wightman was a member of the Grolier Club (indeed, one of its first female members), as well as a member and longtime president of the Hroswitha Club, an organization exclusive to female collectors, which, for many years, met in her book-lined living room. Interestingly, Wightman was also a book-binding enthusiast and constructed a studio in her home. She was sufficiently accomplished that the Morgan accepted the bequest of her tools.
Expert repair to a few joints. A very handsome, richly extra-illustrated set.