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a pile of old papers sitting on top of a tablethree books are lined up in a row on a white surfacean old manuscript with writing on it sitting on top of a tablean old manuscript with writing on itan open book with writing on it sitting on top of a tablea book with writing on it sitting on a tablean old document with a heart drawn on it sitting on top of a tablean old document with writing on it sitting on top of a tablea letter written in cursive handwriting on a piece of paperthe declaration of the declaration of the declaration of the declaration of the declaration of the declaration of the declaration ofan old manuscript with writing on a white backgrounda letter written in black ink on a piece of paperan old book with a piece of writing on it sitting on top of a tablea piece of paper with writing on it sitting on top of a tablea close up of a piece of paper with writing on ita letter written in black ink on a piece of papera close up of a piece of paper with writing on ita letter written in cursive handwriting on a piece of paperan old document with writing on it sitting on top of a tablea piece of old paper with writing on ita close up of a piece of paper with writing on ita pile of old papers with handwriting on them
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Premium Maître Paul PASTAUD

852 - [ALI] – SAINT-DENIS (Louis-Étienne). [Memoirs, documents and…
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Estimate €20,000 - €25,000
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Description
[ALI] – SAINT-DENIS (Louis-Étienne). [Memoirs, documents and business papers] Sl [Sens], undated (1826–1855). Documents in 12mo, 8mo or 4to formats, loose sheets, in folders and in three modern cloth-bound binders. A FIRST-RATE COLLECTION ON SAINT HELENA drawn from the archives of one of the most reliable eyewitnesses to events on Saint Helena. An exceptional collection of autograph documents from Louis-Étienne Saint-Denis (1788–1856), known as the Second Mameluke Ali, who was one of Napoleon I’s most loyal servants, whom he followed to the island of Elba and then to St Helena. Apart from correspondence and business papers, these were written following his participation in the ‘Return of the Ashes’ expedition in 1840, once their author had reached his retirement home in Sens; it is known that they were begun in 1841. The date of completion, however, is less certain. All the evidence suggests that Saint-Denis, constantly revising his manuscript, continued to work on it right up until shortly before his death on 3 May 1856. Naturally, the letters to his wife Mary predate this journey (1826–1840), as do certain accounting documents found in the final file. Kept by his descendants, some of these papers were put up for public sale between 1970 and 1975, and the Versailles Municipal Library, for example, acquired the lists of works from the Longwood library. This collection, gathered from various sources by Jacques Jourquin (see below), was largely collated and organised by him, then divided into three large ring binders. To facilitate use, certain passages have been neatly transcribed. This extensive collection of notes, memoirs and drafts offers a wealth of information on the exile, provided by an ‘unobserved observer’ (whose daily duties enabled him to notice everything, whilst his subordinate position diverted the attention of the courtiers and officers surrounding Napoleon). (Details of the documents by binder available on request.) PROVENANCE: the Napoleonic historian Jacques Jourquin (1935–2021), who, drawing on his personal collection of papers from Saint-Denis—including those held at the Library of Versailles as well as his own—devoted four monographs to this figure based on the original manuscripts, namely: Unpublished Diary of the Return of the Ashes by the Mameluke Ali (1840), in 2003; Largely unpublished Memoirs of the Mameluke Ali on the Russian Campaign of 1812, in 2012; Largely unpublished Memoirs of the Mameluke Ali (1813–1815), in 2015; and finally *Napoleon’s Last Passion: The Library of Saint Helena* (a study), based on the archives of Louis-Étienne Saint-Denis, in 2021.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 2 of 4 – Nos. 550 to 1084
Auction location
Auction time 08/20/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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