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8vo. 5.75 x 8.5 inches. Memoirs, [ii] + 168 pp. [1], B-L8, M-M4. Letter, [ii] + 65 pp. + [1] advertisement. [1], B-E8, F1. Bound in original quarter black morocco, green cloth boards; spine, blind stamped decoration with maroon label, gilt. Front hinges weak, first and second free endpapers detached and lacks rear first free endpaper. Some occasional interior browning and foxing. 1818 date on title page of Memoirs only faintly legible. Entry from bookseller's catalogue and newspaper cutting, 'Eminent Frenchmen a century ago', attached to front paste-down. Early ink signature on title page. The first edition of this work was published in 1816 as A Sketch of the Public Life of the Duke of Otranto and this still appears as the running title of this second edition. It had already appeared in French and this translation (with preface) is from the German edition of 1816, Joseph Fouche, Herzog von Otranto, von K. L. The first edition of the Letter, also in 1816, had appeared as Correspondence of the Duke of Otranto with the Duke of Wellington, Lettter I, Dresden, Jan.1, 1816 [in justification of his conduct after the flight of Napoleon] and a similar title appears at the head of the letter in this edition. Joseph Fouche, Duc d'Otrante (1759-1820) progressed from being an extreme Jacobin during the period of the Terror (when he became known as 'The executioner of Lyons,'claiming that 'The blood of criminals fertilises the soil of liberty') to Napoleon Bonaparte's minister of police. After carrying out a number of diplomatic missions, he was created Duke of Otranto by the Emperor in the satellite kingdom of Naples. In 1814-15 his allegiance swung backwards and forwards between whichever side was in the ascendancy. His renewed allegiance to Napoleon after his escape from Elba (a letter in this book urges him to seek asylum in the United States) was swiftly replaced by one to the restored Bourbon monarchy. For a short period he was also Louis XVIII's minister of police, initiating a campaign of White Terror, before being proscribed and banished into exile. His 1816 letter to the Duke of Wellington attempts to justify his excesses: 'Excessive forbearance has its inconveniences.' Fouche was despised for his extreme opportunism but admired for his cleverness. His desire always to be on the winning side, led to career of constant political manoeuvring and betrayal. The Memoirs consist of documents and letters written by Fouche, linked with an account of his career. Recipients of the letters include Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, Joachim Murat, King of Naples (1767-1815), Field Marshall Prince Blucher, Prussian commander at Waterloo (1742-1819) and the last two Bourbon monarchs of France, Louis XVIII and his brother, the Comte D'Artois, later Charles X. Scarce in this second edition with COPAC recording only three copies at the British Library, the Bodleian and V & A. HISTORY/THEOLOGY MEMOIRS HISTORY/THEOLOGY. Seller Inventory # 20020
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Bibliographic Details
Title: AUTHENTIC MEMOIRS OF THE PUBLIC LIFE OF M. ...
Publisher: H. Colburn, London, F. A. Brockhaus, Leipsic, and C.G. Sulpke, Amsterdam.
Publication Date: 1818
