n.d but ca. 1856]. Leporello, of 89 small circular discs comprising of an engraved view and descriptive letterpress text, each measuring 71mm in diameter, the first disc recto an engraved title, so image sequence 1-88, intended to be hinged together to form a long leporello, though a number of hinges now broken, and some previous attempts at repairs appear to have affected the order of the discs; some light soiling from tape hinges in places and with some occasional minor foxing; housed within original green papier-mâché lidded box 81mm in diametre, attractively embossed in gilt with bee design, with metal rim and central gilt medallion portrait of Napoleon mounted on upper cover, embossed and decorative gilt ‘N’ on lower cover, and gilt medallion mounted on inside of lid ‘le Sénat et le Peuple AN XIII’;; decorated case itself housed within large round lidded green box 90mm in diametre 38mm in height, with printed engraved label on upper cover, label and outer box a little soiled, upper lid neatly repaired, though both cases lightly rubbed and worn around edges; a most attractive example. A most attractive and skilfully executed typographical curiosity - a miniature medallion book celebrating the life and times of Napoleon I. Reminiscent of Edward Orme’s two aquatint medallion series celebrating military and naval successes against Napoleon published in 1815, and presented in a series of 88 finely executed illustrations together with accompanying descriptive text. Originally mounted on ribbon, the intended effect was to form a leporello, thus ‘unfolding’ the extraordinary life and military career of the Emperor. Over time, a number of the hinges have now broken, and previous attempts at repairs have seemingly altered the intended sequence so that it no longer forms a continuous sequence. Nevertheless, the discs are all present, and the sequence concludes with the final scene and text describing his tomb and final resting place in 1841, when his body was moved from St. Helena and moved to Paris.
The illustrations are often described as having been etched, and at the time of handling a previous example, it seemed likely that the date of production was around 1841, to coincide with the return of his ashes to Paris, after his initial burial on St. Helena. The Swiss Coup-D’Oeil sur les travaux de la Société Jurassienne d’émulation, pendant l’année 1856 (Porrentruy, V. Michel, June 1857), however, notes that at a recent exposition that ‘M. le colonel Theubet nous a présenté, par l’entremise de M. Kohler, un travail de sa composition: Napoleon le grand, médaillons historiques, suite de 88 sujets tirés de l'histoire de l'empereur et dessinés par lui d'aprés Vernet, Raffet, accompanée d'une texte explicatif dont l'impression remarquable fair honneur à notre typographe bruntrutain, M. Michel’ (p. 43). The Bibliographie de la France of 1856 gives a lengthy description of what we assume must be the same publication, though listed under ‘Impressions lithographiques’ and which gives an imprint of ‘Imp. Lith. de Marie, à Paris, A Paris, chez M. Susse, place de la Bourse, Pris 5 f’. It goes on to say that the ’88 médaillons dessinés par Collet, d’après meilleurs artistes, divisés en 5 séries, avec un text explicatif extrait des ouvrages sur la vie de Napoléon. Texte imprimé à Porentrui (Suisse), chez Victor Michel. … C’est ce travail que présente M. le chevalier V. Theubet, colonel, officier de la Légion d'honneur, à tous ceux dont le coeur battra toujours au nom de Napoléon’ (p. 911). A further review found in the 1856 Moniteur de l’armée notes that the medallions were joined together by a silk ribbon, and that it was available from ‘Le dépôt des Médaillons historiques est a Paris, chez MM. Susse frères, place de la Bourse’ for 5 francs, and that it would make an ‘agreeable gift’ for the children of the military and of men who may have served under Napoleon. Antiquarische Catalg von Felix Schneider, 1889, Catalogue CCVIII, item 217, describes the illustrations as ‘eaux-fortes’, however, and that it was an ‘opuscule charmant, singulier et rarissime’ (p. 10).
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte had proclaimed himself Emperor of France as Napoleon III in 1852, and internationally tried to emulate his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte. 1856 saw the birth of his son and heir-apparent, and the conclusion of the Crimean War, with the Paris Peace Conference a high-water mark for his regime. A celebratory life of the First Emperor, just as the Second Empire was emerging, and in such an unusual and typographically appealing format, would no doubt have found an enthusiastic audience.