War-dated ALS in French, signed “Bonaparte,” one page, 7.25 x 10, November 19 [1803]. Addressed from the Camp de Boulogne, a handwritten letter to “Madame la Princesse Borghese,” his younger sister, Pauline Bonaparte, in full (translated): “I will still be away for a few days, however, the bad season is advancing. The Alps are going to be covered with ice. Leave then for Rome. Distinguish yourself by your gentleness, your kindness to everyone and your extreme consideration for the ladies, relatives and friends of your husband's household. Conform to the customs of the country, never despise anything, find everything beautiful, do not say in Paris, there is better than that. Show a lot of respect and attachment to the prince whom I love very much and who is worthy by the simplicity of his morals of the position he occupies. Of all that will come back to me on your account, what I would like most to learn is that you are good. The only nation you should never receive in your home is the English as long as we are at war, and you should never even admit them into your intimate society. Love your husband for the happiness of your home and above all do not be frivolous and capricious. You are 24 years old. You must be mature and sensible now; I would always like to learn with pleasure that you are happy.” In good to very good condition, with staining and toning, tiny areas of paper loss along the central vertical fold, and several splits and tears bearing very old repairs on the reverse.
After a decade of war, France and Britain signed the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, marking the end of the French Revolutionary Wars. The peace, however, was short-lived, lasting roughly a year before hostilities resumed between the two nations. Due to mutual distrust, broken promises, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s growing ambitions, Britain declared war on France on May 18, 1803, officially starting the global Napoleonic Wars that lasted for over 12 years and involved over 20 different sovereign states or coalitions.
As Napoleon’s great war began, a secret matrimony added unneeded strife within the Bonaparte family. On August 28, 1803, Napoleon’s younger sister, Pauline, married Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, in a wedding ceremony unbeknownst to her older brother and the First Consul of the French Republic. Napoleon was upset when he learned of the wedding, not because he was not in attendance, but rather because he insisted that Pauline – whose first husband, Charles Leclerc, died in November 1802 – honor the code of mourning and wait a full year before being wed. As such, and for a brief time, Napoleon refused to acknowledge her new title, writing to her, ‘Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess where I am.’
By the time of this letter, whatever tension existed between the siblings had since faded, as Napoleon indeed salutes his sister with her new title and tenders an array of helpful suggestions in her new life as a foreign princess; Pauline had arrived in Rome just five days earlier. The most glaring of his sundry counsels pertains to the present conflict, with Napoleon impressing extreme caution in the case of an enemy agent: “The only nation you should never receive in your home is the English as long as we are at war, and you should never even admit them into your intimate society.” Initially amicable, the marriage between Pauline and Camillo soon deteriorated, and following Napoleon’s defeat and exile in 1814, Camillo fled France and his wife. Pauline, true to her brother, liquidated all of her assets and moved to Elba, where she used that money to better Napoleon's condition.
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