The Life Of Napoleon Bonaparte, Bourrienne 1831. This three volume-set about Napoleon is titled “The Life Of Napoleon Bonaparte, By M. De Bourrienne, His Private Secretary, With Notes Now First Added, From The Dictation Of Napoleon, At St. Helena, From The Memoirs Of The Duke Of Rovigo, Of General Rapp, Of Constant, And Numerous Other Authentic Sources.” In three volumes, the second edition (stated), published in London by Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, in 1831, and the three volumes are in a fine binding by Morrell of London, one of the really top-drawer binders of the nineteenth century. All three volumes have five raised bands, with gilt titles on dark labels and Napoleonic emblems on the spines - the eagle, the bee, and the N inside a gilt laurel wreath - and “1831” at the heel of the spines; the calf cover has triple gilt-fillet borders with gilt floral devices in the corners, gilt dentelles surrounding gray-blue endpapers, gilt decorations around all the edges of the bindings, and the top edges are gilt. The first volume has a frontis portrait of Napoleon, followed by the title page, a three-page Advertisement by the Publishers, a two-page Preface, an eight-page Introduction (viii - xvi), a Calendar of the French Republic, a List of the Illustrations in all three volumes, eight pages of Contents, 417 pages of text, and a leaf about the “Companion To The Waverley Novels - Standard Novels” at the rear. The second volume has a frontis portrait of The Empress Josephine, followed by the title page, eleven pages of Contents and 423 pages of text, and the third volume has a frontis portrait of The Empress Marie Louise, the title page, eleven pages of Contents, 429 pages of text and an Index that runs to page 453, and a two-sided leaf about the National Library at the end, and the three books have all seventeen illustrations called for, including the two fold-out illustrations - the Plan of the Battle of the Nile on page 160 in Volume I and a facsimile of Napoleon’s abdication on page 366 of Volume III. The books are 8vo. and measure 7 7/8 x 4 3/4 in. wide, the bindings are tight and the pages and text are very clean, as are the illustrations - there is no discernible browning or foxing that we could see. There is light rubbing on the spines and specks of rubbing at the tips, a slight blemish on the cover of the second volume and light scratches on the others, and overall a very attractive set of Napoleonic history by Napoleon’s own secretary, in a fine binding by one of the top binders of the nineteenth century. #171 #1560