[NAPOLEON III] DAVILLIER Edmond, comte Regnaud... - Lot 587 - Osenat

Lot 587
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Estimation :
500 - 600 EUR
[NAPOLEON III] DAVILLIER Edmond, comte Regnaud... - Lot 587 - Osenat
[NAPOLEON III] DAVILLIER Edmond, comte Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Premier Ecuyer de l'Empereur , L.A.S dated Tuesday [7 January 1873], Camden Place Chislehurst , 2 pp. in-8. An original lithograph, on double page, taken from the "Harpers Weekly", representing Napoleon III on his deathbed, is enclosed. VERY MOVING AND PRECIOUS LETTER RELATING THE SECOND LITHOTRIPSY SESSION PERFORMED ON JANUARY 6, 1873 ON NAPOLEON III BY DR. THOMSON. THE PRINCIPLE OF A THIRD OPERATION IS RETAINED, BUT MUST FINALLY BE POSTPONED. THE EMPEROR, WHOSE CONDITION RAPIDLY WORSENED, DIED TWO DAYS LATER, ON 9 JANUARY AT 10.45 A.M. Dear Friend, The operation took place yesterday at noon, and although it presented rather serious difficulties, it was perfectly successful. A PIECE OF STONE IN THE CANAL WAS A GREAT HINDRANCE AND PROLONGED THE OPERATION. Finally, THE DOCTORS ARE SATISFIED, and it is more than probable that now THE STONE IS REDUCED INTO AN INFINITY OF BITS, so that the operations which will follow will be much less difficult and painful. THE EMPEROR IS AS WELL AS CAN BE EXPECTED AND IS ALREADY FEELING RELIEVED. Thank you for what you can do; it would touch this subject nicely. Regards and all yours, Count Davillier I am going to Drury Lane this evening. Edmond Davillier (1824-1908) passed through the school of Saint-Cyr and took part, in 1849, in the siege of Rome. Appointed captain in the regiment of guides, he was then attached to the Emperor as an orderly. He married the daughter-in-law of General Count Regnaud Saint-Jean d'Angély and left the army to continue his service with Napoleon III. He made the Italian campaign as Ecuyer of the Emperor and he had several times to carry the orders of the Sovereign in very perilous circumstances. Auguste Regnaud Saint-Jean d'Angély (1794-1870), glorious chief of the Imperial Guard who was made Marshal of France in 1859 after the victory of Magenta, obtained to pass on to his son-in-law his name and title. Edmond Davillier followed LL. MM. on their great trip to Algeria (1865), and H.M. the Empress, in 1869, to Turkey and Egypt, during the inauguration of the Suez Canal. When General Fleury became Grand Ecuyer, Edmond Davillier was appointed First Ecuyer, and it was in this capacity, and directing the service of the imperial stables, that he was with Napoleon III during the 1870 campaign; he followed the Emperor into captivity at Wilhelmshoehe. He then settled with his family in Chislehurst and did not leave England until after the Emperor's death. The Count of Regnaud Saint-Jean d'Angély had the sad privilege of nailing the beer of Napoleon III and his son, the Imperial Prince, in 1879. This important and rare missive is to be compared with a letter - reproduced in the "Pays" dated 9 January 1873 - that he addressed the day before to his wife, the Countess Davillier: Chislehurst, 6 January [1873]. The second operation has just taken place this morning at noon, and, although it presented great difficulties which were not encountered the first time, it was perfectly successful. The stone, independently of what was extracted in the two operations, is now crushed into an infinite number of small pieces. The Emperor will therefore most probably feel a very great relief tomorrow, and the operations that will follow will be much less painful and difficult. Everything is going well and the hope, not to say the certainty, of a complete and prompt recovery is increasing every day. Count Davillier
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