BONAPARTE JOSEPH: (1768-1844)

BONAPARTE JOSEPH: (1768-1844) King of Naples and Sicily (1806-08) and later King of Spain 1808-13, as Jose I. Elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. A very good A.L.S., `Joseph´, one page, 4to, Tarente, 5th May 1806, to Regnaud, in French. Joseph sends a beautiful testimony to a renewed and unwavering friendship, despite distance and changes in fortune, stating in part `Je connais la vérité des sentiments que vous m´exprimez; j´en juge par ceux que j´éprouve moi-même; vous savez qu´ils sont invariables pour vous, et pour les personnes à l´amitié desquels il m´était permis de croire, fondée sur quelque estime et des rapports communs d´opinionet de position; j´espère que vous continuerez à m´aimer... On aime plus les gens que la fortune a porté au haut de la roue... et que l´amitié est réservée à ceux qui restent dans leur position habituelle...´ (Translation: "I know the truth of the feelings you express to me; I judge them by those I myself feel; you know that they are unchanging for you, and for those whose friendship I was permitted to trust, founded on some esteem and shared opinions and positions; I hope that you will continue to love me... People are loved more by those whom fortune has raised to the top... and that friendship is reserved for those who remain in their usual position...") With blank integral leaf. VG

Michel Louis Étienne Regnaud de Saint-Jean d´Angely (1760-1819) French deputy, lawyer, journalist and politician. He distinguished himself as a deputy of the Third Estate in 1789 and became a close collaborator and Count of the Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte.