This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/1/2026
Extraordinary document signed by Napoleon Bonaparte, dated 8 January 1805, barely a month after Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France. Partially printed document grants a pardon to Pierre Rigoux, convicted of highway robbery and sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor. Countersigned by Jean-Jacques-Regis de Cambaceres, Archchancellor of the Empire; Claude Ambroise Regnier, Grand Judge and Minister of Justice; and Hugues-Bernard Maret, Secretary of State. Translated from French, pardon reads in part,
''Napoleon, by the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Empire, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, To the Presidents and Members of the Criminal Court of the Department of Ille-et-Vilaine, sitting in Rennes: We have received the petition of Pierre Rigoux of the commune of St. Brice, condemned by your Decree of the twenty-ninth of Prairial, Year Twelve, to fourteen years of hard labor for the crime of highway robbery, requesting our Letters of Pardon. Having recognized that the circumstances of the trial might lead us to extend our clemency to him, we convened in Privy Council at our Tuileries Palace in Paris...''
Vellum document measures 22'' x 18'', mounted to board. Abrasion to lower right. Some fading to ink, though Napoleon's signature remains prominent. Very good condition.