Ordre Imperial De La Legion D'Honneur; Patent of Knighthood Awarded to Pierre Joseph Cardolle
Palace of the Tuileries, Paris, France: April 29, 1861. 18" x 15.5", partially printed on vellum. Signed by then Emperor of France, Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. In December 1851 he staged a coup d'etat and one year later proclaimed himself Emperor. While the counter signature of the Grand Chancellor of the Order is difficult to decipher, Marshal Bernard Pierre Magnan was in the position at that time.
Recipient Pierre Joseph Cardolle was born in Toulon on 27 July 1815 — Coming of age in the 1830s, at the moment France launched its conquest of Algeria. The conflict defined a generation of French soldiers and was a prolific source of Legion of Honor awards. The back dating of his seniority is commemorative to a life in the of foreign service. Very good, with some light aging and small foxing dots around the edges, folding memory in quarters, diagonal fold memory at top right corner, two tiny holes in document (<1mm), one along crease. Item #3441
IMPERIAL ORDER OF THE LEGION OF HONOR
Napoleon, by the grace of God and the National Will,
EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH
Sovereign Chief and Grand Master of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor
Wishing to give proof of our Satisfaction to Mr. Cardolle, Pierre Joseph [...of the Battalion of — partially illegible], born the twenty-seventh of July, eighteen hundred and fifteen, in Toulon, Department of [Var] — for the services he has rendered to the State. We have named him Knight of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor, to take rank as of the twenty-second of September eighteen hundred and forty-six and to enjoy the title of Knight and all the rights, honors, and prerogatives attached thereto
Done at the Palace of the Tuileries on 29 April 1861
Napoleon
By the Emperor.
Price: $500.00