Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French, De Buonaparte, Des Bourbons, First Edition 1814. 

Size: 7 3/8 X 4 7/8 X 1 in. 

This is a first edition of Chateaubriand’s De Buonaparte, Des Bourbons, published in Paris in 1814 by Mame Freres. Chateaubriand’s full name was Francoise-Auguste-Rene de Chateaubriand (1768 - 1848), a French author, politician, diplomat, and historian who was an outspoken critic of Napoleon. Initially he was a royalist who supported Napoleon because Napoleon was able to restore order after the French Revolution, but as time went on, he turned against Napoleon because of Napoleon’s authoritarian rule and the execution of the Duc d'Enghien, a Bourbon prince accused of conspiring against the state - this was 1804, and as Napoleon's power grew, Chateaubriand became increasingly disillusioned with the suppression of dissent. Napoleon even attempted  to silence Chateaubriand after Chateaubriand wrote an article in 1807 criticizing Napoleon’s actions - Napoleon ordered the article suppressed and Chateaubriand arrested. The work was written during a time of great political upheaval in France: the Bourbon monarchy had been overthrown during the French Revolution and replaced by Napoleon's rule, and Chateaubriand argued for the restoration of the monarchy. The work was originally published as a pamphlet on March 30, 1814 and released a week later, and Louis XVIII, who replaced Napoleon and came to the thrown about a month after the pamphlet’s publication, considered it valuable propaganda, even more valuable than an entire army because it helped restore the monarchy to the throne with minimal bloodshed. The book is half-bound, with five raised bands and gilt lettering on the spine which says “Chateaubriand, De Buonaparte Et Des Bourbons”, it has marbled covers, marbled endpapers, a hand-written inscription on a blank endpaper reads “De Buonaparte Et Des Bourbons __ re Edition”, followed by the half-title, then the title page, which reads “De Buonaparte, Des Bourbons “ - it leaves out the word “et” between Buonaparte and Des Bourbons in the title - and the rest of the title page reads “Et De La Necessite De Se Rallier A Nos Princes Legitimes, Pour Le Bonheur De La France Et Celui De L’Europe. Par F. A De Chateaubriand., which means “On Buonaparte and the Bourbons and the necessity of rallying around our legitimate princes for the well-being of France and of Europe.” There are 87 pages of text, which makes this a first edition. According to WorldCat, the first edition has 87 pages and the second edition has 88 pages, which makes it pretty easy to tell this is a first edition. The book is in the original French, and the top edge is gilt too. The pamphlet was probably rebound here with the beautiful marbled boards. There are two thin white strips on the inner borders of the inscription page before the half title - the strips reinforce the inscription page - which is why we believe the pamphlet was rebound, and still a scarce copy of this important work. The book measures 7 3/8 x 4 7/8 inches wide and is in great condition, with a tight  binding  and clean pages and text, and the only blemish is soiling at the top of pages 54 and 55. The binding is in great shape too. First editions like this one are rare, especially in this condition. One gallery offers the book for $2500 in this condition, and we are offering the book at a much lower starting price, to let people get in on the ground floor.