'L'Indicateur general 1833 continue par Binet', illustrated tribute to Napoleon. Broadside.
Paris: Chez Binet, rue Aubry le Boucher, 1833. Striking large illustrated broadside poster celebrating the life of Napoleon I, with 12 wonderful full length portraits of the Emperor in different important moments in his life, from his childhood (Brienne) to his coronation, and ending with his exile in Ile Ste Helene, and dated from 1780 through 1815. The portraits are surmounted with a large French imperial eagle, the symbol which Bonaparte's armies carried into battle, and the title "L'Indicateur General, 1833".
Each vignette portrait features Napoleon in full length, mostly in triumphal battle settings, including Toulon (loading a cannon), Arcole, Pyramides (the Egyptian pyramids at Giza visible in the distance), Mont St. Bernard (crossing the Alps), Paris (in coronation robes, crowned Emperor December 2, 1804), Veille d'Austerlitz (the eve of the battle of Austerlitz), Berlin, Ratisbonne, Moscowa (sic), Fontainebleau (the only seated portrait, writing at a desk), and l'ile St. Helene (showing Napoleon with arms crossed standing at cliff side, with the subtitle "Il me manquait l'adversite"; I miss adversity).
A large central biographical article is titled, "Sommaire de la vie de Napoleon, d'apres lui meme, extrait du memorial de Sainte Helene, et de L'Histoire de Napoleon, par M. Leonard Gallois". It concludes with Napoleon laying the blame for his ignominious death (he died in 1821) in exile at the feet of the British: "Je legue l'opprobre de ma mort a la maison regnante d'Angleterre" (I lay the dishonor of my death at the feet of the reigning house of England).
The broadside furnishes a great deal of information in statistical tables and charts, including the population of France; federal and state revenues, debts & expenditures; a calendar of important battles from 1792 to 1815; an astrological monthly calendar; and a table of duties. This tribute was published 12 years after Napoleon's death, when former Napoleonic officials had returned to power during the July Monarchy (1830 - 1848) under Louis Philippe I.
Period folds, small areas of loss at fold intersections; minor fox spotting, damp marks primarily at upper and lower margins.
OCLC: 777200919 records one copy, an electronic image at the Bibliotheque National de France. Good + overall. Item #23922
Price: $450.00