BONAPARTE, Lucien, Prince de Canino - Lot 136

BONAPARTE, Lucien, Prince de Canino Etruscan Museum. Excavations from 1828 to 1829. Painted vases with inscriptions Viterbo, Camille Tosoni, 1829 FROM LUCIEN BONAPARTE TO GENERAL LA FAYETTE: TWO SEPARATE DESTINIES THAT MEET AGAIN DURING THE CENT-DAYS. EXEMPLAIRE DE GUSTAVE DE BEAUMONT, L'AMI DE TOCQUEVILLE ORIGINAL EDITION In-4 (265 x 202mm). ILLUSTRATION: 1 excavation plan and 41 lithographed plates. AUTOGRAPHIC SENDING: to M. le Général de La Fayette From the author L. B. CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Spine in green calf with ornate ribbing, green marbled paper boards, marbled edges. PROVENANCE: Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette (consignment) - La Fayette-Beaumont, 1854 (bookplate of Clémentine de La Fayette, granddaughter of La Fayette, wife of Count Gustave de Beaumont). Minor rubbing to upper cover. The role of Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840), Napoleon's second brother, was decisive in the success of the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire. But relations between Lucien and Napoleon soon soured. A staunch Republican, Lucien did not approve of his brother's authoritarian and monarchical drift. He was dismissed by Fouché in 1804, and took refuge in Rome with Pope Pius VII, whose friendship he had won by supporting the Concordat. He settled near Viterbo, in the ancient Etruscan land of Canino, which the Pope erected for him as a principality. La Fayette also stayed out of Napoleon's epic. But during the Hundred Days, both rallied to the Emperor's side. They had never met before. On the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, La Fayette tried in vain to rally Lucien to the idea of a regency in the event of Napoleon's death. In the aftermath of the defeat, La Fayette and Lucien's views clashed in the House of Representatives, the former favoring abdication, the latter a continuation of the war. After the fall of the Empire, Lucien Bonaparte devoted himself to archaeology. The large-scale excavations he carried out from 1828 onwards in the Etruscan necropolises of Vulci, Cornetto and Canino unearthed between 15,000 and 20,000 vases. He organized several major sales in 1834, 1837, 1838 and 1840. No examples have been offered for sale on the national or international auction markets for over thirty years. Missing from the Getty. BIBLIOGRAPHY : Lucien Bonaparte, Mémoires de Lucien Bonaparte, Prince de Canino, écrits par lui-même. Paris, 1836 -- Étienne Taillemite, La Fayette, Paris, 1989 -- Antonello Pietromarchi, Lucien Bonaparte, prince romain. Paris, 1985