DOCUMENT APPOINTING A COMTE OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE, WITH ILLUMINATED COAT OF ARMS AND LARGE WAX SEAL, BOLDLY SIGNED BY NAPOLEON
NAPOLEON. Document signed. Saint-Cloud, January 5, 1810. Single folio vellum leaf, measuring 17 by 24 inches, calligraphic manuscript to recto, with illuminated coat of arms and imperial seal pendant in red wax (measuring 4-3/4 inches in diameter). Floated and framed, entire piece measures 31 by 30-1/2 inches. $22,000.
Large and striking manuscript document on vellum, establishing Antoine Claire Thibaudeau as a comte of the French Empire, boasting fine calligraphic detail, an illuminated coat of arms, a large wax seal and Napoleon's bold signature.
An official legal document, the brevet cites edicts pertinent to its institution: Napoleon's reform of titles (March 1, 1808) and the August 15, 1809 decree that established Thibaudeau as a count. The terms of the rank and the coat of arms designed for and assigned to Thibaudeau are then described in detail. Formal steps for the conferring of the rank of comte include the Arch-Chancellor's countersignature and the title's entry into the Sénat's register. The document closes with Napoleon's signature. The additions to the document (following the drafting of its initial form text and the insertion of Thibaudeau's details) finalize it and confer the rank. Napoleon's titles—Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine and Mediator of the Swiss Confederation—are finely written at the document's head, and are preceded by the Napoleonic eagle.
Thibaudeau was an early and consequential supporter of Napoleon who served as deputy in the 1792 convention. He "joined the party of the Mountain and voted for the death of Louis XVI unconditionally. Nevertheless he incurred a certain amount of suspicion because he declined to join the Jacobin Club. In May 1793 he was on a special mission in the west and prevented his department from joining the Federalist movement. Thibaudeau occupied himself more particularly with educational business, notably in the organization of the museum of the Louvre. It was he who secured the inclusion of Tom Paine's name in the amnesty of Girondist deputies. Secretary and then president of the Convention for a short period, he served on the Committee of Public Safety and of General Security. After the insurrection of 13 Vendément," his appointment "as prefect of the Bouches du Rhone, with consequent banishment from Paris" was seen as "a semi-disgrace" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). He was the last living member of the National Convention during the French Revolution to have voted in the trial of Louis XVI, dying in Paris in March 1854.
Signature bold and clear, document with one small spot of dampstaining not affecting text or signature, wax seal and ribbon about fine, usual fold lines in document. Beautifully framed.