Napoleon letter to be auctioned in Moscow

Moscow: A love letter by Napoleon Bonaparte, addressed to his first wife Josephine de Beauharnais in 1796, will go under the hammer Saturday in Moscow. In his letter, the future French emperor and military genius, then 26, confesses to Josephine, then 32, that glory is a value to him only because it flatters her, and complains that her feelings toward him are nothing but a whim. The love letter of one of the most illustrious couples in history had already been sold for $120,000 in 2006 and for $445,000 at Christie`s art auction two years later. Napoleone Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a military and political leader of France and Emperor of the French as Napoleon I, whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century. Besides the letter, about 800 art objects have been listed for the Moscow`s Gelos art auction this year. Launched in 1988, Gelos now holds 120 auctions a year, selling more than 50,000 objects. IANS