MARIE LOUISE: (1791-1847)

MARIE LOUISE: (1791-1847) Austrian Archduchess, Empress of the French and Queen of Italy 1810-14 as the second wife of Napoleon I, and Duchess of Parma from 1814-47. A.L.S., Louise, one page, 8vo, n.p., 29th October 1814, to Madame La Comtesse de Luçay, in French. The Empress writes on attractive stationery with decorative blind embossed borders and informs her correspondent, in part, ´Je n´ai pas été fatiguée du tout du voyage, ma santé s´en est même trouvée fort bien, et le bonheur de revoir mon fils après trois mois d´absence y a contribué pour beaucoup. Vous seriez étonnée du changement qui s´est opéré en lui, il a grandi au moins d´une demie tête´ (Translation: ´I wasn’t at all tired from the journey; in fact, it did my health a world of good, and the joy of seeing my son again after three months’ absence played a large part in that. You would be amazed at the change in him; he has grown at least half a head taller´). With blank integral leaf. Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Marie Louise and bearing a red wax seal to the verso. A charming and poignant letter concerning Napoleon's only legitimate son, written whilst the deposed Emperor remained in exile on Elba, never to see his child again. VG

Jeanne-Charlotte de Luçay (1769-1845) French courtier. One of the dames du palais of the Empress Joséphine, she was subsequently appointed dame d'atours to the Empress Marie-Louise in 1810, assuming responsibility for the imperial wardrobe, jewellery and suppliers. A prominent and fashionable figure at the Napoleonic court, Luçay remained in attendance upon Marie-Louise during the collapse of the Empire in 1814 and accompanied her as far as Rambouillet before the Empress's departure from France.

Marie Louise's son was Napoleon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1811-1832), Napoleon's only legitimate child, who had been created King of Rome at birth and would later become known as Napoleon II and Duke of Reichstadt. In the summer of 1814 Marie Louise left the three-year-old prince at Schönbrunn in the care of his governess, Madame de Montesquiou, while she travelled to Aix-les-Bains and through Switzerland. Her delight here at seeing how much her son had grown records their reunion after an absence of approximately three months. At the time, Napoleon remained in exile on Elba, hoping that his wife and son would eventually join him; they never did, and Napoleon would never see his son again.