January 25th Rare Autograph & Book Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/25/2024
JOSEPHINE (Empress of France, 1763-1814) & HORTENSE (Queen Consort of Holland, 1783-1837). Document signed by both, Paris, 1 April 1813.
In French. 18 pages, 280 x 208mm (light dustsoiling). Partly stitched at left margins with green ribbon.
Josephine and Hortense sign as witnesses to an elaborate marriage contract between Jean François Joseph de Lacoste and Jeanne Louise Elisabeth Le Merle de Beaufond. Josephine is referred to in the document as Her Majesty the Empress, a title she continued to hold after her divorce in 1809. A fascinating document demonstrating the great legal formality involved in civil marriage according to the Code Napoleon.
Joséphine Bonaparte, 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was Empress of the French as the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805 until the 1810 annulment
Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen consort of Holland. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Hortense later married Napoléon I’s brother, Louis Bonaparte, who had been made King of Holland, making her her stepfather’s sister-in-law. She was the mother of Napoléon III, Emperor of the French; Louis II of Holland; and Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte who died at the age of four.
With One of a Kind Collectibles LOA
Empress Josephine and Queen Hortense sign as witnesses to an elaborate marriage contract
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