LARREY (DOMINIQUE-JEAN). Set of 5 letters and... Lot 12

LARREY (DOMINIQUE-JEAN). Set of 5 letters and pieces. A SYMBOL OF EMERGENCY SURGERY IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY, DOMINIQUE-JEAN LARREY (1766-1842) was Surgeon-in-Chief of the Consular and Imperial Guard, Surgeon-in-Chief of the Grande Armée, Inspector General of the Health Service, and member of the Académie des Sciences and the Académie de Médecine. He took part in all Napoleon's campaigns, from Italy (1796-1797) to Waterloo (1815). RARE PIECE WRITTEN DURING BONAPARTE'S VISIT TO MALTA - Signed as Surgeon-in-Chief of the Army of the East, addressed to Surgeon Jean-Baptiste Labrunie. MALTE, 28 prairial an VI [16 juin 1798]. "You will please, citizen, go immediately to the newly established hospital in Malta, to fulfill the functions of your rank, under the orders of the chief health off[icie]rs. Greetings and fraternity..." (3/4 p. in-4, printed "Military Hospitals" letterhead; stains due to prophylactic operations carried out in the lazaretto, marginal tear reaching 2 words without missing). On his way to Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Malta: his troops landed on June 10 and the knights capitulated on June 12, 1798. He left the island on June 19, leaving behind a small occupying force. - Signed as surgeon-in-chief of the Armée d'Orient. Marseille, 25 frimaire [an X, 16 décembre 1801]. "D. J. Larrey [...] certifies that citizen Mainville, 3rd class surgeon, served in the Egyptian expedition throughout its duration, and that he constantly fulfilled the duties entrusted to him with zeal, activity and intelligence worthy of praise..." (1/2 p. folio, headed with his name and title, illustrated with a woodcut vignette depicting an allegory of Humanity). Dominique-Jean Larrey distinguished himself particularly during the Egyptian expedition, through his courage, activity and organizational skills: he founded a surgical school in Cairo, cared for a large number of wounded, bringing one of them back on his shoulders under enemy fire at the height of the battle of Canopé, provided care for all, including the Mamelukes, closely studied the pathological facts particular to this region (scurvy, dysentery, ophthalmia, etc.), had the sick taken on board in a ship with a view to their recovery.He was among the last to leave Egypt on October 17, 1801. Bonaparte made him surgeon-in-chief of the Consuls' Guard on his return. "THE RUSSIAN ARMY... WAS TERRIFIED ET S'EST DISPERSEE DANS LE FOND DE LA RUSSIE..." - Autograph letter signed to his wife Élisabeth-Charlotte Le Roux Delaville. VILNA [then in Russia, now Vilnius in Lithuania], July 1 [1812]. "Several unfortunate circumstances... have prevented me from writing to you since our departure from Eilsberg [now Lidsbark Warmiński in Poland] until our arrival in this city. Besides, OUR MARCHES HAVE BEEN SO STRONG THAT THE POST OFFICE HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO SEND ANY MAIL TO FRANCE. Oh what suffering...No sooner had I got rid of my ophthalmia than I developed an abscess on my right armpit, which I had to have incised, but you have to think of the pain I must have experienced during the work of inflammation and suppuration; I almost fell off my horse several times as a result of the extreme and HORRIBLE PAIN THAT I HID AS MUCH AS I COULD BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT THE EMPEROR TO KNOW THAT AT THE MOMENT OF A BATTLE I WOULD FIND MYSELF UNABLE TO DO MY DUTY, WHILE I WOULD PREFER TO DIE THAN TO LIE THERE. In the midst of these torments, I was informed that my crews, whom I had not seen for several days, were lost in the countryside. However, they found each other again, but a wheel on my caisson was watered by the artillery because Dubreil, in charge of driving it, had nonchalantly left it in the middle of the road. I was obliged, in the absence of any kind of help, to forge the irons myself to repair it and get the car back on its feet. To make matters worse, Mr Moreau de Danzik (your cousin), in order to oblige Mr de Menval [Napoleon I's secretary, Claude-François Méneval], whom he wanted to take... to the imperial quarter, lent him his carriage and, not knowing how to get it back, asked him to give it to me as a cadot on his behalf. I bought some bad horses, and wanted to get the two carriages on the road, but what misery, what pain and what difficulties!... COMPLETE SHEET TO BE FOUND IN THE CATALOG