Items from the “Corvisart Family Memorabilia” bought at auction by the Fondation Napoléon
On Tuesday 20 February 2024, the auction ” A château in Brittany, souvenirs of the Corvisart family ” was organised at the Hôtel des ventes de Nantes. Over the decades, the Corvisart family had accumulated a wealth of priceless “souvenirs” about Napoleon, thanks in particular to Jean-Nicolas Corvisart (1755-1821), Napoleon I’s personal physician, and Lucien Corvisart (1824-1882), Napoleon III’s physician.
Among the many items offered for sale, the Fondation Napoléon acquired the following three lots:
No. 78: Lucien Corvisart’s archives on the illness and death of Emperor Napoleon III
A sizeable set of documents, mainly from 1871 and 1872, in an archive box. Batch of medical prescriptions for Napoleon III, medical correspondence with English and French doctors, set of notes and drafts by Lucien Corvisart on the consultation in July 1870 and on the progress of the illness, drafts for press articles, a collection of contemporary press articles on the Emperor’s illness, reproduction of a drawing of Napoleon III’s profile made “8 hours after death”.
No. 94: 4 drawings by the Prince Imperial.
N° 100: Silk scarf commemorating the death of the Prince Imperial.
These acquisitions will enable the Fondation Napoléon to continue its mission of preserving Napoleon’s heritage by making these archives available to researchers, in particular on the Napoleonica® les archives website.
A fine cooperation was established with the department of the Ministry of Culture, which had approached the Fondation Napoléon for this sale, the French National Archives and the Bibliothèque de l’Académie nationale de médecine, which avoided these institutions having to compete unnecessarily.
► See all the lots offered for sale on the Hôtel des ventes de Nantes website.
published : 21 February 2024
