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French noblewoman (1779-1848) who was reputed to be the mistress of Napoleon during his exile on Saint Helena. Exceedingly rare ALS in French, signed “Vassal de Montholon,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 8.25 x 9.75, October 24, 1819. Handwritten letter from Albine de Montholon, the mistress of Napoleon during his exile on Saint Helena, sent to Napoleon's elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte. On Saint Helena, Montholon played the role of First Lady of the Court in Exile, arousing bad rumors and jealousy from her love affair with the Emperor. Written just a few days after her return to Europe, she accurately describes in great detail, Napoleon's veritable state and isolation. In part (translated): “I left him suffering from chronic liver disease, an endemic condition in that country. The Emperor's health is all the worse because he cannot take any exercise. The arbitrary harassment inflicted by the English Government and its agents has long imposed on him the necessity of conforming as the only way to escape the lack of consideration…
Your Majesty knows that this rock offers no resources. The soil of Longwood is sterile, the absence of shade, the unhealthy climate, all combine to make that stay unbearable. Finally, hatred could not have chosen better. The Emperor's only distraction is to dictate memoirs on different periods…He nevertheless endures these long, monotonous days with a peace of mind, an equanimity of soul, a kindness for everything around him that can only belong to him. ..... The Emperor's isolation is such that my husband's departure would have been a significant loss; distressing situation which has required our separation.”
Montholon also informs how she left Napoleon behind, accompanied just by General Bertrand and her husband, as well as discusses the removal by the English of Dr. Barry O'Meara, which has “left the Emperor with no medical doctor.” She later asks Joseph to pay her 144,000 francs, which may covertly be child-support for her daughter with Napoleon: “Your Majesty will be kind enough to have regard for my position, deprived of the protection of my husband who, devoting himself to fulfilling the duties imposed on him by his devotion and his attachment to the Emperor, cannot take care of his family and whose absence from France has been the cause of great losses of fortune for me.” In very good to fine condition, with scattered light foxing, short fold splits, and an area of seal-related paper loss to the last page affecting several lines of text.
The absence of the Countess quickly weighed on Napoleon, proof that this affair was important to him. A heavy burden suddenly fell on Longwood House, the Emperor went around in circles and even abandoned the writing of his memoirs for months. Confiding then to Count Montholon, Napoleon attested: ‘Your wife used to sow flowers on my grave, since then nothing has grown but shrubs.’ On her husband's return in 1821 after the Emperor’s death, the Countess divorced and lost little Joséphine — whom Napoleon most probably had fathered. The poem ‘Le Chant de Moina’ (attributed to the Countess) on her love with Napoleon, further sustains controversy among researchers who still accuse Count Montholon of most likely poisoning the Emperor for the affair. The Countess was the most intimate person to Napoleon in Saint Helena, who was the last to leave before his death. A fascinating letter boasting unique Napoleonic content.
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