NAPOLEON'S CARRIAGE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 91, 17 April 1923, Page 5

NAPOLEON'S CARRIAGE

An interesting decision has been given by the German Supreme Court at Leipzig concerning the final ownership of Napoleon's travelling carriage, which was left on the battlefield of Leipzig in 1813. Tho carriage was claimed by both the British and German branches of Field-Marshal Bluchers family. The French Government did everything possible to recover the carriage, as well as other war trophies, from Germany. After Bluchor'a death the inheritance was divided between tha English and German branches of the family. The only thing about which there was any uncertainty was the carriage, which was not in Germany, but on one of the Blucher. estates in Bohemia. Probably it would already have been handed over to France but for the claims raised by the British line. After a number of suits in the lower Courts, the case came up to the Supreme Court, which decided that on legal grounds the carriage belongs to tho English branch. Curiously enough, it now appears that Germany will not lose the trophy after all, the English owners having decided to present the carriage to the city of Breslau.

A nod from Mr. Frank Sabin, of New Bond street, London, which meant a bid of £5900, secured a First Folio Shakespeare at Sotheby's auction rooms a few weeks ago. The bidding; was spirited A big effort was made to win the First Folio for the United States. A representative of a«™T 7 • • carried the bidding to £4500 before giving way to the London experts. Then followed a duel between Mr. Quantch and Mr. Sabin, which ended in victory for the latter.'Last May the famous Daniel copy of the First Folio which was in the Burdett-Coutts library,' was sold for £8600, and later went to the United States.