Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Heweston, 3 Volumes 1821. This three-volume set about Napoleon is titled “History Of Napoleon Bonaparte, And Wars of Europe, From the Revolution In France To The Termination Of The Late Wars Including Anecdotes Of The Most Celebrated Characters That have appeared during and since the Revolution” in three volumes, written by W. B. Heweston, Esq. and published in London by Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row in 1823. The books are 3/4 bound, with six compartments separated by double-gilt horizontal lines and a black label and gilt title on the spines, the gilt title reads “Life of Bonaparte” along with embossed decorative designs on the spines, in marbled boards, with blank endpapers that have the bookplate of Eugene J Escolas Sr on the front paste-downs, the inscription of George Newman, Benfeld 1824 (Benfeld is a town in France) on the first flyleaf, then a frontis bust of Napoleon, the vignette title page followed by the regular title page, a four- page Advertisement, 551 pages of text, two pages of Contents at the rear, and five black and white engravings, including one of Robespierre. The vignette title page reads “The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, London, Printed for Thos. Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row. 1821” with an image of the Battle of the Bridge of Lodi at the top of the vignette title page. The second volume has a frontispiece of Napoleon on horseback titled “Bonaparte Crossing The Alps”, the vignette title page depicts the Coronation of Bonaparte and is dated 1821 as well, with 546 pages of text, two pages of Contents at the rear, and five black-and-white engravings. The last volume has a colored frontispiece of Bonaparte’s Escape from Elba, Feb. 26, 1815; unfortunately the frontispiece is glued down to the front paste-down; the vignette title page shows Napoleon “viewing the destructive Charges made by the English Cavalry and Infantry on his Troops at the Battle of Waterloo” - a battle which the English won - and it is dated 1822 at the bottom, then the title page dated 1823, the text ends on page 564 and one page of Contents afterwards, followed by one page of Directions to the Binder at the rear. There are three black-and white engravings and four colored plates besides the frontispiece, and one colored plate shows Napoleon laying in State. All the books are stamped “Souers de Sainte-Anne, Noviciat, Marlboro, Massachusetts” on the title pages and have a library pocket at the rear, but the pockets don’t detract from the books. The first editions of the first two books were published in 1814 and the first edition of the last book was published in 1815, all by Richard Evans of London; the three books detail the life of Bonaparte from his birth to the French Revolution and highlight his successes and defeats; the first two books end with the abdication of Napoleon at Elba and the last one continues his story through Waterloo and marks his death as well. The books are 8vo. and measure 8 1/2 x 5 3/8 in. wide and are in relatively good shape. The first volume has a mild hinge crack in the front and the other bindings are tight, the pages and text are pretty clean, with occasional brown spots near the engravings and light soiling in the margins once in a while, the spines have some wear along the edges on the first volume and there’s very light rubbing along the top and bottom edges of the boards, some tips are curled in, and the colored plate of Napoleon’s tomb on page 558 of the last volume is detached, but given the age and importance of the three books - they give a contemporaneous view of Napoleon’s life published only two years after he died, and the first editions don’t even include the death of Napoleon because he died six years after they were published - and the first editions didn’t include include the colored plates that are included here - we haven’t seen any colored plates of Napoleon laying in state anywhere except here - we think these are in relatively good shape and are worth the price. #178 #1628