[Rarebooks] fa: O'MEARA - NAPOLEON IN EXILE or A VOICE FROM ST. HELENA 1822 - First ed./Original Boards

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, May 22. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/gpykrdt

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain

Barry E. O'Meara: Napoleon in Exile; or, A Voice from St. Helena. The Opinions and Reflections of Napoleon on the Most Important Events of His Life and Government, in His Own Words. London: Printed for W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1822. FIRST EDITION. Two volumes, tall 8vo (23 cm), untrimmed in the original publisher's blue boards, rebacked to style with the original printed spine labels laid down; 4, [2], xx, 511, [1] pp.; [2], 542 pp,; two engraved frontispieces; vol. I with 4 page of publisher's adverts and integral blank bound in before the frontis., vol. II with a half-title page and additional plate of Longwood House (complete).

First edition of this famous sympathetic eyewitness portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte in his final years. Bumping and wear to the corners; offsetting from the frontispieces, vol. II frontispiece and title-page with damp-stain to the fore-edges; contents lightly toned with some darkening to the untrimmed edges, occasional light (easily erasable) penciled marks in the margins, a few small spots and touches of soiling; original owner's signatures (James Mansfield) on the title-pages, dated 1822; else very clean and fresh, firmly bound. A work that's surprisingly uncommon in the first edition, especially so in such nice, nearly unsophisticated condition, complete with the publisher's adverts, etc.

An intimate, day-by-day account of Napoleon's exile as witnessed by his physician and close confidant — too close a confidant in the eyes of the emperor's British jailers, who eventually canned O'Meara and shipped him home. The good doctor responded with this sympathetic portrait of his patient, decrying his mistreatment at the hands of Sir Hudson Lowe, the governor of St. Helena. The work created a sensation at the time, going through numerous printings, and is still invaluable as a vivid, if not always completely reliable, account of Napoleon's years in exile.