[LOUIS (Bonaparte, 1778-1846, brother of Napoleon I and father of Napoleon III, King of Holland 1806-1810)]

Autograph Letter Signed, in French, from architect Thibault, about his plans for redesigning the interior of Huis ten Bosch on the edge of The Hague (since 1981 the main residence of the Netherlands royal family), addressed to M. de Sénégra, Master of the Household, the wing facing the Hague is to be for the King's private apartments, ending in the 'Pavillon' for his offices, the other on the garden side for the Queen, ending in the apartment of the Prince Royal (Napoleon, 1804-1832), he has rearranged where the footmen wait so that the King can go the whole way round without meeting them, there are resulting suggestions resiting the Library, Music Room, and Chapel, Heer Twent (later Interior Minister and responsible for Holland's dykes) and Heer Zogger are designing the parade ground, it cannot be on the meadow side which is flooded and frozen in winter, he reports progress at Het Loo, the palace at Apeldoorn in Gelderland, wondering if he should paint it white while the King is away "to let the odour evaporate", he talks most interestingly of the difficulties of creating a garden entrance at Huis ten Bosch, the staircase would invade the King's study and sacrifice "the best rooms in the Palace", accompanying the letter is an apparently unrelated item with a pencil note 'Album Thibaud p. 50', listing eight Etruscan Vases found in two chests "dug up from the Canals in 1831", and describing the painted figures of athletes, centaurs etc and their colours, signed "F.B. (?)", 1 side 3" x 5¼", the letter 3 sides folio, The Hague, 12th June

Holland was occupied by the French from 1795 to 1813, initially with the support of the Dutch republicans. In 1806 Napoleon made his brother Louis, who was married to Napoleon's step-daughter Hortense, King of Holland as Lodewijk I.
Louis and Hortense arrived at Huis ten Bosch on 18th June 1806 and formally entered The Hague on the 23rd.

Item Date:  1807

Stock No:  52081      £275

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