Napoleon's Love Child. Count Leon

London England: William Kimber, 1974. Hardback. First Edition. Foxing to end inside covers and edge. Wear and tear to D/J. Foreword by Count Gaston Leon of Le Raincy. 'I have a son', Napoleon is reputed to have shouted triumphantly when vrough the news of the birth to Eleonore Denuelle, his mistress, of the boy who was to become Count Leon. The importance of his birth was immense, for it proved to Napoleon that he was capable of fathering children, and paved the way to his divorcing the Empress Josephine and marrying Marie Louise. But this importance was short-lived. Thrust into the background, poorly provided for during Napoleon's exile and after his death. Count Leon had to live by his wits, and to try and win recognition from the Bonapartes against their cold-shouldering. Soon he was the centre of scandals in London and Paris. He suffered from the fluctuating fortunes of the Bonapartes, while receiving little attention, or money, from them. With enthusiasm he threw himself into prohects and schemes, most of which came to nothing. Flung into prison for debt, arrested on Wimbledon Common where he had challenged the future Napoleon III to a duel, his was a life of adventure, with his Bonaparte charm and gift of gaining affectionshining through his colourful and tempestuous career. The author has spent many years in research in England and France, and has received the help of Count Leon's descendants. Illustrated. 270 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions, Reference books ,and all types of Academic Literature.). First Edition. Cloth. Very Good/Fair. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall Octavo. Harback.