WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.- Lion Heart Autographs, for nearly forty years an internationally recognized dealer of autographs and manuscripts focusing on art, history, literature, music and science has sold a rare marriage document signed by Emperor Napoleon and Empress Josephine at the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show for $20,000 to a European private collector. The sale of the finest marriage document ever signed by Napoleon and Josephine and other French notables including six of Napoleon’s original eighteen marshals was a highlight of Booth 820 at the highly anticipated jewelry, art and antique show which took place February 10 -16, 2016. Emperor Napoleon and his consort Josephine remain one of the most intriguing and studied couples of all time. As Napoleon’s first wife, Josephine lived a life filled with rumored infidelities and barren promises. Her husband’s military campaigns throughout Europe and North Africa and her wandering eye soon led to the annulment of their childless marriage. The marriage contract which was offered by Lion Heart Autographs exclusively at the show was for the marriage between General August Hulin (1758-1841) and his bride, Marie Jeanne-Louise Tiersonnier (1782-1826) and garnered worldwide media attention prior to it being sold.
Additional highlights sold by Lion Heart Autographs include a stunning portrait signed by pioneering French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur; a document granting land to a revolutionary soldier signed by Benjamin Franklin as President of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; a handwritten Marquis de Lafayette letter critiquing several books about the Revolution of 1830 and describing his efforts “not to be rude regarding the Duke of Orleans’ program” and adding “I am concerned that they will get you and me, too, on this inaccuracy;” a scarce handwritten Bill Clinton letter to Senator Pat Moynihan from the early days of Clinton’s first term about “our joint efforts on the big matters that will shape our country’s future, even after our time is done;” a rare letter written by Gatling Gun inventor Richard Jordan Gatling to Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company on illustrated letterhead depicting a Gatling gun; a rare Zachary Taylor document signed as president ordering the secretary of state to affix the seal of the United States to a congratulatory message to the King of Hanover on the birth of a grandson and many other documents and manuscripts which were offered for sale. Hi-res images of the highlights are available upon request.
