LOT #47244 |
Current Bid: $2,600
Napoleon I Autograph Letter to his Brother Joseph....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
Napoleon I Autograph Letter to his Brother Joseph. Three pages of a bifolium (in French), 7 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches, Ajaccio, [Corsica]; October 1791. A very interesting unsigned letter from a young Napoleon Bonaparte to his elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte, written at the dawn of the French Revolution. This letter finds him discussing the nuances of land taxation, arguing that the existing method of assessment was fundamentally flawed and unequal. In part (in translation):"Here are my observations. According to the first title of the law of November 23, land taxation is a proportional tax on the net income of real estate, whether land, town houses, or country houses...Land taxation can therefore be considered as representing: 1 - our old twentieth [tax of one-twentieth on all income] 2 - the tax on houses 3 - a tax that would exist on houses occupied by the owners themselves. To accurately distribute the land tax, it would have been necessary to use these three elements of apportionment and not, as the department did, take only the twentieth as the basis-a significant error for anyone familiar with the nature of land taxation...the land tax differs from the twentieth: the former must be levied on net income, while the latter was levied on gross income. Therefore, the proportional ratio of one of these taxes cannot serve as a basis for the distribution of the other...To accurately distribute this tax, I propose apportioning it proportionally among the officials and monks of the nine districts and adding a little more to the districts of Bastia and Ajaccio, as they may contain some foreign artisans and merchants subject to the personal property tax...I urge that these be presented to the Council so that it may adopt a different method of distribution, which is essential because when something is false and flawed...the more dangerous the error becomes." With integral address panel and remnants of red sealing wax on the verso.
Napoleon harbored a strong interest in politics from a very young age; commissioned as a lieutenant in the French army at just sixteen, he nonetheless remained deeply engaged with revolutionary (and borderline treasonous) ideas. His earliest writings of the late 1780s already advocate for Corsican representation in government, showing his lifelong preoccupation with sovereignty, law, and administration. When the French Revolution erupted in 1789, Napoleon welcomed the upheaval, even as he continued to fulfill his military duties. He and his brothers corresponded frequently about revolutionary developments in Ajaccio, and when Corsica was formally declared a department of France, making it subject to French law and citizenship, Napoleon embraced the moment as an opportunity to participate directly in the machinery of politics.
This letter offers a fascinating glimpse into Napoleon's formative political thinking, capturing the future emperor as a young revolutionary intellectual grappling with the practical realities of governance at the very outset of the French Revolution.
Condition: Lightly toned. Some creasing; wear at the edges, including a few very small instances of insect damage, not affecting text. Several instances of ink corrosion. Loss at the right edge on the verso from where letter was sealed. Archival tissue affixed to edges of pages two and four.
Auction Info
2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction #6328 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
February
26th
Thursday
10:50 am CT
Auction Dates
February
26th
Thursday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
5 Days
5h 26m 15s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 2
Lot Tracking Activity: 27
Page Views: 125
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $49) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
Signature® Floor Session (Live Floor, Live Phone, Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 47001-47282) - 11:00 AM Central Time, Thursday, February 26, 2026.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Exhibition Viewing Times, Title Page, Floor Session and License Information
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms