For a rare document of the period of World War II in 1812 paid 187.5 thousand euros (estimate 10-15 thousand euros)

Napoleon letter of 20 October 1812, in which he promises to blow up Moscow
Source: artdaily.com

yesterday at auction Osenat Fontainebleau a letter signed by Napoleon Bonaparte went under the hammer for EUR 187.5 thousand (243.5 thousand U.S. dollars) - a ten-fold excess of estimate 10-15 thousand euros. This is a message addressed to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Bernard Mare, written numerical codes and signed «Nap». Letter dated October 20, 1812, when Napoleon retreated from Moscow city center. However, in a letter to Bonaparte promises to blow up the Kremlin at 3 am on October 22. His intentions were implemented only in part - Water Tower was destroyed by the Kremlin, and the other was restored.

message was played for a hot battle rates. Winner was a representative of the Paris Museum of Letters and Manuscripts, which holds about 1,500 letters Napoleon Bonaparte. Museum director Gerard Héritiers (Gerard Lheritier) believes that the letter could cost more (up to 250 thousand euros).

This document was so interesting to the public, because, first, it written numerical codes, and secondly, is of great historical importance. By the way, the main competitor in the battle Héritiers rates was a French painter of Russian origin Vladimir Hoffman (Vladimir Hofmann). He had hoped to buy a gift letter to the Hermitage, but failed to beat the gambling director Héritiers.

Sources : artdaily.com , artinvestment.ru