Napoleonic letters discovered in library in Ajaccio (April 2018)

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Napoleonic letters discovered in library in Ajaccio (April 2018)
Letters signed by Napoleon which have recently been discovered in Ajaccio. © PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP

In the library of the Palais Fesch in Ajaccio (Corsica), some Napoleonic treasures have recently come to light. Hidden amongst other gems, such as a book written by Gustave Eiffel on his famous tower and an extremely rare work on Egyptology, several previously unpublished letters written by members of the Imperial Family, as well as nine letters signed by Napoleon himself, have been re-discovered by chance over the past few months, alongside fifteen original and complete volumes recounting Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign.

Vannina Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff, the curator appointed by the Ajaccio City Council to restore order to the library’s collection, describes her work as a kind of “patrimonial rescue-operation”, noting that the letters written by the Imperial Family only narrowly escaped the dustbin before their true value was noticed. These letters date mostly from the Emperor’s campaign in Germany and Austria in 1813 and appear to be unique; and Mrs Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff believes that the Fesch library is the only institute to hold such letters. It would appear however that there is one letter missing from the collection, which the curator believes was “probably stolen”.

Mrs Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff and the director of the library in Ajaccio, Elisabeth Perié, both have no doubt that other treasures remain hidden in the library’s heritage room, an inventory of which has yet to be made.

More information (in French) on these discoveries  is available at the following links: Le Figaro (30/04/18), Le Point (28/04/18) and Culturebox (28/04/18).

Update (18 May 2018):  This article has been modifed. The letters in question, those signed by Napoleon, have already been published however in the Correspondance de Napoléon edited by the Fondation Napoléon and Fayard editions.

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