Napoleon and Mademoiselle George

New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1959. Fine condition in a Very Good dust jacket (light wear to edges). Not price clipped ($4.50). Bright, clean, square, tight, and unmarked. Sharp corners. Not a book club edition. No owner's name or bookplate. No remainder mark. Illustrated. Biography of Napoleon's mistress, Marguerite Josephine Weymer. From the Dust Jacket: "It may be that the few years during which he was First Consul of France were the happiest of Napoleon's life; a turbulent career had made him, while still a young man, the adored hero of France, dazzling in war and creative in peace; the sombre decline into tyranny, megalomania and catastrophe lay ahead. During these happy years the actress known as 'Mademoiselle George' was his mistress. Mademoiselle George came from a humble family of repertory players. She had been chosen, not least for her beauty, to succeed Mlle. Raucourt as a leading actress of the national theatre, the Comedie Francaise. At the age of fifteen she had conquered the great world of Paris by succeeding in her much advertised debut as Clytemnestra - an unnerving event upon which her future fortunes depended. She became famous as 'the Venus of Paris.' Napolean, who was an assiduous visitor to the theatre, and a great patron of the Comedie Francaise, fell under the spell of the young actress, and one evening he invited her to the Palace of the Tuileries, for the purpose, as he put it, of complimenting her on her acting. This was the first of many visits; he became infatuated by his chere Georgina, who was the cause of many a stormy scene between him and his jealous wife, Josephine. But when the First Counsul was crowned Emperor and his aims grew more and more grandiose, he discarded the young girl, though she remained devoted to him and she even offered to accompany him into exile after Waterloo. In 1817, Mlle. George, labeled by the Royalists as 'the Corsican Widow,' left France. She visited London and acted at Covent Garden Opera House under the patronage of the Duke of Devonshire. She settled in Brussels, but returned to Paris as the mistress of the raffish theatrical manager, Harel. During the reign of King Louis Philippe, fresh stage triumphs awaited her in association with the rising 'young romantic' playwrights among whom were Dumas pere and Victor Hugo. But her charms gradually faded and her spendthrift ways brought her to the verge of destitution. She lived on into the Second Empire, an old woman glad even to accept a job as ladies' cloakroom organizer at the Great Exhibition. Miss Saunders has presented most lucidly this remarkable story of a great actress (who was the mistress of many other famous men besides Napoleon, including the Czar Alexander of Russia). The capitals of Europe in the early years of the 19th century are described in all their splendor, and the men and women who formed part of the pattern of Mlle. George's world come vividly alive." . First Printing of the First US Edition. Hardcover. Fine condition/VG DJ (light wear to edges). 8vo. vii, 248pp . Great Packaging, Fast Shipping.