BONAPARTE (Jérôme). Set of 20 autograph letters signed to his daughter Princess Mathilde. 1855-1856. - Le Havre, August 29, 1855: "My dear Mathilde! I received your letter of the day before yesterday, without reproach, dear child, it's the first sign of life you've given your old father for two months!!!! I can well imagine how tired you must have been during those ten days of ceremonies which are not the most amusing [on the occasion of Queen Victoria's reception in Paris]; but in the end it's always appropriate for my children to be seen in these circumstances, since fortunately they are good to see. I recommend you, dear child, to be careful with Jerome of America, who takes note of all your words, and who says that you reproached him for not going to your house as before; if you did, it is a fault: your conduct must not be different from that which I your brother [Napoleon Bonaparte] are obliged to hold in this circumstance, that is more serious than you think!!!! Unless you wish to harm the honor of the late Emperor my brother [Napoleon I], that of your mother [Princess Catherine de Wurtemberg], and even your own, MLLE PATTERSON'S CHILDREN CANNOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BEAR THE NAME OF BONAPARTE IN FRANCE, which is why you must avoid receiving it until [these] difficulties have disappeared. I am fighting a battle for you Napoleon [son of King Jerome] that costs my heart; at least I must be supported by you, as I am by your brother... [During a visit to the United States in 1805, Jérôme Bonaparte married Elizabeth Patterson, without the consent of his mother or his brother Napoléon I, and had a child, Jérôme. This union was annulled in both France and the United States. Jérôme Bonaparte-Patterson settled in France during the Second Empire, and applied to Napoleon III for his status. In 1854, an imperial decree declared him not princely but French and authorized him to bear the Bonaparte name. After complaints from Jérôme Bonaparte and his other children, who were concerned about the succession, he was finally maintained in 1856 in possession of the Bonaparte name and French nationality, but declared illegitimate]. I HAVE FULFILLED A DUTY, BY MAKING A VISIT TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, and I have applauded myself for having handed over to the Emperor, before his arrival in France, the keys to the tomb of my brother [Napoleon I], for as long as they were in my hands, it would have been impossible for me to introduce THE HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT WHO ASSASSINATED HIM ON THE ROCHER OF STE-HELENE, as the price of his loyal confidence in him... " - Le Havre, September 9, 1855: "Your little letter gives me all the more pleasure as I see that your trip to Le Havre was a pleasant one for you: I am at this point in my letter when A TELEGRAPHIC DEPECHE APPEARS TO ME THE NEW ATTACK ON THE EMPEROR'S LIFE!!!! [Alluding to the assassination attempt perpetrated by Edmond Bellemare on September 8, 1855]. It makes one think bitterly, and should convince S[a] M[ajesté] that he should give deeper roots to his dynasty; without that no future for France!!!! [The Emperor can see how other powers, great or small, give their princes the importance and influence indispensable to the solidity of the throne. I am writing to the Emperor, I would even have gone to see him, if I did not have to fear that such a step would be misinterpreted! - Etc. Jérôme Bonaparte also talks about his meetings with the Emperor or Empress, a dinner with the Murats and Boulay de La Meurthe, a performance of Santa Chiara (an opera by Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), the polar voyage undertaken by his son Napoléon Bonaparte with Queen Hortense, etc., and more.