Napoleonic Collection Sold

News and Calendar

by Dana Lombardy

The Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio, worked with Christie's Auction House of New York in the "deaccession" of its collection of Napoleona. Hundreds of books, manuscripts, furniture, arms, and decorative arts originally gathered by David Z. Norton in the early 1900s were donated to the Historical Society in the 1940s. In May, every item was sold and scattered across the world, many into private collections where researchers will no longer have access to them.

The press release from the Historical Society emphasized that the descendants of Norton supported its decision, which was made because "the Napoleon collection has no direct relevance to the 'history and heritage of all of the people of Northeast Ohio WRHS received approximately $1 million from the sale, which exceeded Christie's presale estimates.

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