Napoleon wrote: "I'm going to blow up the Kremlin"
Napoleon Bonaparte's letter, in which he boasted about his intentions to blow up the Kremlin, was sold for close to $ 250,000
- Yonah Shuv, Behadrey Haredim
- י"ט כסלו התשע"ג
A coded letter of Napoleon Bonaparte was sold yesterday (Sunday) at an auction for 243,500 dollars.
The Letters and Writings Museum in Paris purchased the letter from October 20, 1812 and paid a price ten times higher than estimates of Fontainebleau French auction house before the auction.
The letter was written in code numbers that Napoleon used often, and reveals the difficulties imposed on the commander by his invasion of Russia.
"At three in the morning, on the 22nd, I'm going to blow up the Kremlin," he elaborated further the withdrawal plan and ended, "My cavalry is in a bad way, many horses are dying."
The letter aroused the interest of collectors from the U.S., Britain, Japan and Russia, especially in light of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, commemorated in 2015.
The museum also acquired the "Essay on rural fortification," a 310-page document written by Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena island - for 487 thousand dollars.
The museum's director, Gerard Laritié, said the institution holds at least 1,500 texts related to Napoleon. "We have more important letters, But it's nice because it is written in code, and he says he would blow up the Kremlin – so it's attractive," said Laritié.
The Letters and Writings Museum in Paris purchased the letter from October 20, 1812 and paid a price ten times higher than estimates of Fontainebleau French auction house before the auction.
The letter was written in code numbers that Napoleon used often, and reveals the difficulties imposed on the commander by his invasion of Russia.
"At three in the morning, on the 22nd, I'm going to blow up the Kremlin," he elaborated further the withdrawal plan and ended, "My cavalry is in a bad way, many horses are dying."
The letter aroused the interest of collectors from the U.S., Britain, Japan and Russia, especially in light of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, commemorated in 2015.
The museum also acquired the "Essay on rural fortification," a 310-page document written by Napoleon during his exile on St. Helena island - for 487 thousand dollars.
The museum's director, Gerard Laritié, said the institution holds at least 1,500 texts related to Napoleon. "We have more important letters, But it's nice because it is written in code, and he says he would blow up the Kremlin – so it's attractive," said Laritié.
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