Design for the State Seal of France.
Le Sceau de l'Empire - arrèté par décrèt Impérial, le 21 Messidor, an 12
Circa 1804
39 x 26cm
Early design for the Great Seal of France. On the left we see Napoleon in State robes seat on the throne of France, and on right the Imperial
Coat of Arms. This design is very close to what was to become the final version used on the State Seal of France. To see a wax seal of
the Great Seal of France click here
This engraving was at sometime in the famous 'Bibliotheca Lindesiana' collection as it bears their library stamp in the bottom right hand
corner. The 'Bibliotheca Lindesiana' was started by the 25th Earl of Crawford in the mid 19th century and grew to become one the most
impressive private collections in Britain at the time, both for its size and for the rarity of some of the materials it contained. In the first half
of the 20th century the library was broken up with large portions going to the British Museum, the Cambridge University Library, and the
National Library of Scotland.
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