History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena; by FORSYTH, William - 1853: From the Letters and Journals of the Late Lieut.-Gen. Sir Hudson Lowe, and Official Documents not before made Public.

London: John Murray, 1853. First edition. Forsyth sought to conclude that "by mere force of facts he had proved that neither the British government nor Lowe were in fault as regards the treatment of Napoleon at St Helena" (p. x). Lowe was Napoleon's gaoler during his exile on St Helena, and soon became exasperated with the intransigence of his captive, apparently unaware that the pair were engaged in a strategic battle of wits. Barry O'Meara, a disgraced army surgeon, was invited to St Helena as Napoleon's personal doctor, and returned to England in 1819 with news of the captive's poor treatment, publishing Napoleon in Exile, or A Voice From St. Helena, in 1822. His cause found strong support among the Whigs, and Lowe, although defended by Lord Wellington, never received the customary pension for an officer of his rank and died in poverty, in London, in 1844. There was a French translation of Forsyth's book in 1855. 3 volumes, octavo (222 x 137 mm). Original green wavy-grain cloth, spines gilt-lettered in blind panels, covers decoratively panel-stamped in blind, red coated endpapers. Engraved frontispiece to each volume, folding map to rear of volume 1. Contemporary ownership inscription to front free endpapers. Spines sunned and gently rolled, extremities bumped, frontispieces, titles and map spotted, volume 2 title starting, a few gatherings slightly proud. A very good copy in the attractive original cloth.