A review of Warden's letters from St. Helena; containing remarks on Bonaparte's massacres at Jaffa and El Arish; preceded by observations on the North American review, the whole designed as an appendix to the 14th number of that work.
Boston: Printed by John Eliot, 1817. Wraps. An extremely caustic review of Dr. William Warden's 'Letters written on board His Majesty's ship the Northumberland, and at St. Helena'.
William Warden (1777–1849) was a British surgeon in the Royal Navy who was appointed to HMS 'Northumberland', when she was ordered to transport Napoleon to exile on St Helena.
Warden published the Letters in 1816, with the title 'Letters written on board His Majesty's ship Northumberland, and St Helena, in which the conduct and conversations of Napoleon Bonaparte and his suite...are faithfully described'. It went through 5 editions but was soon found to be of little value. Warden spoke little French and had to rely on a somewhat untrustworthy interpreter; Napoleon himself later disavowed much of the content.
The Letters gave a favorable view of Napoleon, causing an uproar in England, which resulted in Warden being found in breach of discipline and removed from the Admiralty's list of surgeons.
8vo, 32pp. String binding; the rear blue wrapper present, chipped at edges. Contemporary owner name at top of title page, "Kimball". Pages slightly chipped at edges, tide marks to later pages not affecting legibility of text, scattered fox spotting. Shaw & Shoemaker 40880. OCLC 36147438 locates 7 copies. Good + overall. Item #23281
Price: $175.00