NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. - French Civil Code. First and only official edition. Paris, Imprimerie de la République, 1804. In-4 (binding: 21 x 27 x 7.3 cm; sheet: 20 x 25.8 x 5.5 cm), false title, title, 579 pp. [pp. 1-558: 2281 articles; pp. 559-562: Loi sur la réunion des lois civiles; pp. 563-779: Table], long-grained red morocco, framed with palm leaves, radiating disc at the corners, large central ornament bearing the numeral NB, smooth spine decorated with alternating antique-style urns and serrated ovals, with small fans in the corners, Greek frieze on the edges and in the inner frame, gilt edges (period). First edition of the Code civil in in-4 format and on large wove paper. Personal copy of Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul, bound with his NB cipher. The Civil Code, Napoleon's great work: The drafting of the Civil Code was fully led by Napoleon. The first projects were initiated in 1793 by Cambacérès, for a classification, standardization and codification of all French civil laws. But when Bonaparte came to power as First Consul in November 1799, it was he who actively spearheaded this major reform within the Council of State. This work was a major issue for Napoleon Bonaparte, a tool of power and prestige that he wanted to reflect the modernisation of his government. In 1800, Bonaparte appointed, alongside the second consul Cambacérès, a commission of four great jurists: Tronchet, Bigot de Préameneu, Maleville and Portalis. He took part in the debates himself, chairing more than half of the 102 sessions. The drafting work was quickly completed: the final draft was examined in 1801, but more time was needed to respond to criticism of certain legislative provisions. On 30 Ventôse Year XII (21 March 1804), the French Civil Code - a huge collection of 36 laws containing 2,281 articles - was finally promulgated. Only two months later, on 28 Floréal year XII (18 May 1804), the Empire was proclaimed. The Civil Code quickly became the object of a veritable cult, becoming the Napoleonic Code for the second edition, published in 1807 (3 years after the advent of the imperial regime). Then, when the third official edition was published following the decree of 30 August 1816, the work was renamed the Civil Code. Rare edition on large vellum paper: The original in-4 edition of the Code civil in large paper is rare. Eugène Dramard, in his Bibliographie raisonnée du droit civil (1879), does not describe any luxury editions, but mentions four simultaneous editions in small print runs (in-4, in-8 and in-32). Another copy on large vellum paper is mentioned in the catalogue of La Malmaison (1829, no. 284), but it is not specified whether it bears Napoleon's signature. There are 4 known copies on vellum of this original in-4 edition. The first (kept at the BnF, Vélins-993) bears no identifying mark; it can be attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte thanks to a vellum leaf, inserted in the volume, printed in gold letters in the name of the director of the Imprimerie de La République, Jean-Joseph Marcel (1776-1854), who offered this copy to the Emperor on 21 May 1806, two years after the printing of the Civil Code but the same year as the Code of Civil Procedure. That of the Second Consul Cambacérès (preserved with the BnF, RES 4-Z ADLER-53) carries the figure C in a medallion, in the centre of the plates. That of the Third Consul, Charles-François Lebrun, future Duc de Plaisance, bears the number L; it is the only one cited by Brunet and Dramard; it formed part of the Sir Robert Abdy Library (1975, n°70-71) and went on public sale in 2004 (n° 18 of 24 Nov. 2004, Christie's), then in 2019 (n° 1530 of 5 April 2019, Vente 21 Aristophile); it has since been lost. The Lebrun copy itself consists of a pair, the 1804 Code civil and the 1806 Code de procédure civile. The fourth copy on vellum is that of the Grand Juge (Minister of Justice) Claude Ambroise Régnier, Duc de Massa (kept at Fontainebleau, F2022.11.1). These 4 luxury copies on vellum have virtually identical bindings: midnight blue long-grain morocco, decorated with a framed roulette of palms and an antique urn and oval medallion on the spine. The binding of our copy is also very similar, which brings us closer to this illustrious origin; ours is distinguished by its red morocco colour. Napoleon Bonaparte First Consul copy: Several elements - in addition to the similarity of this binding to those of the vellum copies of the three consuls - allow us to authenticate this prestigious provenance. It is described on a Code Civil, 1804 edition in-8, stamped above the words "Fontainebleau" (kept at Fontainebleau, FB.37376); it is also mentioned in Olivier-Hermal-Roton, Manuel de l'amateur de reliures armoriées françaises, pl. 2652, iron no. 5, on Prony's work on running water, 1804. As for the ornamental iron supporting this cipher NB, also rare, it was found on a binding with the cipher of Lucien Bonaparte (Fénelon. Les Aventures de Télémaque, 1790 - Aristophile ventes Napoléoniennes, no. 1553, 5 April 2019; binding signed Pertuisot). Finally, on the first leaf of the text and the last leaf of the table, an oval stamp of red wax, very rare, authenticating the membership of the Ist Consul, with the words "Bonaparte Ier Consul de la Rep.". Under the Consulate and then the Empire, Bonaparte took over the royal residences and built up rich personal libraries, which he wanted to be homogeneous, thanks to his first librarian, Louis-Madeleine Ripault - who carried out this task until 1807 - and then with Antoine-Alexandre Barbier (who had built up the library of the Directoire and then the Conseil d'État). The Civil Code was one of the most important titles in the Emperor's private libraries; he asked to have a copy in each of his study rooms, in all his residences, even on Elba. And yet, the historian and bibliophile Gustave Mouravit wondered: "How could we not find this typographical monument in Napoleon's private libraries" (Napoleon bibliophile. 1905, p. 95). This luxury copy of the first edition of the Civil Code, printed on large paper and bearing the First Consul's cipher, is therefore particularly exceptional and precious. Provenance: Always in the same family: Étienne Charvet, then his son Jean-Pierre Charvet; and to this day, preserved by their descendants. Concierge-regisseur of Malmaison in 1798, then régisseur of the Palais de Saint-Cloud from 1802 to 1814, Étienne Charvet was a man Napoleon trusted and an essential link in the daily life of the Court: "Étienne Charvet, former concierge of Malmaison and then of Saint-Cloud, to whom Napoleon had given a gift of 10,000 francs when he left Fontainebleau, joined the island of Elba in June. (Vial, Napoléon et les bibliothèques, p. 252). In 1815 he gave this volume to his son Jean-Pierre, like a precious relic. The entire Charvet family was close to the Emperor. Jean-Pierre Charvet drew up the inventory of the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1814-1815. In 1816, he married the daughter of a leading draper in Elbeuf and developed a fabric factory renowned for its new ladies' trousers and coats (silver medal in 1834). Her sister Louise, an imperial linen maid in Saint-Cloud, had married Napoleon's valet, Constant Wairy; the couple joined Jean-Pierre's business in Elbeuf. As the family world was linked to fashion and textiles, we should also point out that Étienne Charvet's brother (who bore the same name as his nephew, Jean-Pierre Charvet) was the curator of the Emperor's Garde-Robe, and it was his son Christofle Charvet (1806-1870) who founded the now-famous clothing house, Charvet Place Vendôme, in 1838. Notes on this copy: Handwritten corrections in pencil p. 5 ("abrogated" in the margin), p. 13, art. 48: "consuls" replaces "commissaires", p. 13 and p. 14, art. 49 and art. 53: "procureur impérial" replaces "commissaire du gouvernement"). Notebooks Mm and Nn inverted. The volume suffered from damp. Binding restored, scuffing on boards; marbled paper endpapers and modern white endpapers; some leaves weakened: margins frayed, or slightly shorter; false title and title rebacked on tabs; leaf A reengraved, as well as the last two leaves, which are also stained (with wetness); leaves of book B ready to detach. Bibliographical sources: - MOURAVIT (Gustave). Napoléon bibliophile. Paris, A. Blaizot, 1905, p. 95: The "jewel in the crown of the collection" of books from Malmaison is a set of 11 works bound in red morocco, "the great chosen ones", including "the Code civil des Français, original edition of 1804, in large vellum paper, in-4°; - I must add that at the Tuileries, there was a Code Napoléon "printed on vellum skin" (Barbier forgets to tell us which edition); it is a unique example of this kind of luxury in Napoleonic collections". - DRAMARD (Eugène). Bibliographie raisonnée du droit civil. 1879, n° 18: "in-4, fine paper, 12 to 15 frcs (75 issues) / in-4, ordinary paper, 8 to 11 frcs (75 issues) / in-8, ordinary paper, 4 to 5 frcs (50 issues) / in-32, ordinary paper, 1.80 to 2 frcs (45 issues)". - BRUNET, II, 118: "il a été tiré sur [peau de] VÉLIN trois exemplaires de cette édition originale". - CATALOGUE de La Malmaison, n° 284, Notice des livres composant la bibliothèque de La Malmaison, 1829: "pap. vélin, maroquin rouge, dor. sur tranche". - OLIVIER-HERMAL-ROTON. Manuel de l'amateur de reliures armoriées françaises, pl. 2652. - DELAROCHE. Trésor de numismatique et de glyptique, ou Recueil général de médailles, 1831-1850, volume 14 on Napoleon; does not list the seal. - VIAL (Charles-Éloi). Napoléon et les bibliothèques. Perrin, 2021, p. 70: "From the first years of the Empire, a distinction was made between the "private libraries" reserved for the sovereign and the "great libraries" intended for the use of the court and the government, which were built at Fontainebleau and Compiègne (...). At the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud, Napoleon judged that it was probably unnecessary to spend money, as most of those close to him had their own libraries and his collaborators could easily apply for funds from the administration or ministries." - CHARVET (Jean-Pierre). Inventory of the Château de Saint-Cloud, 1814-1815. Manuscript kept at the Musée des Avelines in Saint-Cloud, "inv: 621"; no details of the contents of the library (p. 13, "this library contains maps, plans and history books"), nor of the study. If you would like to bid on this lot, please contact Alexia Taiclet directly on +33 1 53 30 30 84 or [email protected] | If you would like to bid on this lot, please contact Alexia Taiclet directly on +33 1 53 30 30 84 or [email protected]