^#342 ^Lot 364 Napoleon

LS in French, signed “Napole,” one page, 7.25 x 9, August 22, 1806. Napoleon writes his minister of the interior, Count Antonio Aldini. In part (translated): “I want to know how things stand with a man named Pozz, who is said to have arrested Semonville and Maret…and a man named Gambarana who is supposed to have been the leader of the Uprising at Pavia. How have they conducted themselves since then and what position are they in today.” Central intersecting horizontal and vertical folds affecting two strokes of his name, some scattered spots of soiling, and uniform toning, otherwise fine condition. The two men referenced here, Sémonville and Maret were kidnapped by the Austrians in 1793 and not released until December 1795 after Napoleon’s victories in Italy and in return for the liberation of Marie Thèrese, surviving daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Both Sémonville, Ambassador to Constantinople, and Maret, later Duke of Bassano and Minister of Foreign Affairs, were close friends and associates of Napoleon.