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Artcurial
16
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ABELL (Lucia Elizabeth)
See original version (French)
16
-
ABELL (Lucia Elizabeth)
See original version (French)
Estimate €200 - €300
Voluntary lot
Description
ABELL (Lucia Elizabeth)
London, John Murray, 1845..
Recollections of Emperor Napoleon during the first three years of his captivity on the island of St Helena: including the time he spent at her father’s house, ‘The Briars’.
Small 8vo (18 x 11.4 cm), green percaline, gilt fillet framing on the covers, gilt title in the centre of the upper cover, blank spine, gilt edges (contemporary binding).
Second edition.
Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe (1802–1871) was the daughter of William Balcombe, a colonial administrator for the East India Company. At the start of his exile on St Helena, Napoleon stayed at the Balcombes’ country house, known as ‘the Briars’, whilst Longwood was being restored. During this stay, the young Betsy Balcombe, initially frightened by the new occupant, grew closer to him and became his friend. She continued to visit him at Longwood until the family’s departure for England in 1818. She married Edward Abell in May 1822.
Her book, first published in 1844, was very successful and was published in French in 1898.
Autograph copy signed by Elizabeth Abell (Betsy Balcombe): ‘For dear Lucy with L E Abell’s love fev (?) 5th 1864’.
Books signed by Betsy Balcombe are extremely rare.
The person to whom the book was dedicated inscribed her name on the inside front cover: ‘Lucy Eliza Mayel, 15 Montague Place, Bryanston Square. ”
The cardboard binding is slightly worn; a few pages are loose (but not detached).
Provenance
– Lucy Eliza Mayel (inscription on the inside back cover).
– Falconer Bookseller, London.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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