The Indianapolis journal., 1893-10-15

What He Spent for His Wardrobe
Cost of His CorOnnlion.


Cost OF His Coronation.
Napoleon has been characterized in so
many different ways, by the numerous
writers who have studied his career, that 1t
Is not surprising to find him described as
dandy In the recent work of French au,
thor. The book is by A. Maze-Sencier, and
Is devoted mainly to the household affairs
OF the Little Corsican.
1T describes I'm detail" says a reviewer,
the luxury with which Napoleon surround
ed his first extravagant wife-who. even
after the divorce, could not get along on
5Vo,Oo0 francs year-and his second mod
est one and his manner of living. In real
m lsy his bNap0leon H was not extraNagandt aS sn fap
ne mad himself crowned as emperor. 70OV
francs were set aside for his wardrobe. but
he never spent more than 10000 francs for
that purpose The price of his uniforms
varied between 200 and 24O francs. and he
wore them as long as possible, not consid-
ering 1t beneath his dignity to wear mend
ed clothes. In rainy and cold weather he
wrapped himself in simple gray mantle
Tor which his tailor charged him 100 francs;
AS is well known, Napoleon preferred
small, homely hats, for which he paid 4S
francs each
For the court perfumes. however. the
incredible quantities of eau de cologne, as
he considered it not only refreshing. but
wholesome. and washed his body in 1T
every morning. Between June and Septem-
Der, 1896, he used no fewer than 162 bottles
of eau de cologne, paying 423 francs for
them He was also exceedingly fond of the
for ten ounces of aloe Costly soap, and
D francs a cake, he also used. He was
also good customer of the glove makers.
In 1908 he had forty-eight pairs made Of
deerSkin and twenty-four pairs of goat
skin. How long these lasted is not told
but there were many similar purchases.
Napoleon, however. was extremely par
ucular as to his linen. He very cleanly
and changed mis- underwear and dress
shirts daily. The finest linen was used for
his dress shirts, can be seen from the
fact that in 1903 more than 5000 francs
were spent for the material for six dozen
shirts. One hundred handkerchiefs cost
him l. 400 francs. For linen of various kinds
the Emperor spent 10000 francs i'm 1905
almost half of the sum which he usually
spent on his wardrobe.
"At no time. however, did the court pur-
veyorS enjoy greater harvest than when he
was crowned and annointed Emperor. New
er before were so many magnificent pres
ents sent from the Tuileries, and never
before did the royal palace on the banks of
the Seine see such display. The coronation
clothing of the Emperor and Empress cost
together $4,000 francs, and that of the
courtiers, $4,000. For ornaments of various
kinds, 100000 francs were expended, and for
memorial medals, 10000. All told. the cost
of the coronation was about 100000 francs.
No monarch of the ancient regime expended
SO much on similar occasion. Napoleon /,
ly. He kept his private treasury, as well
as the State treasury, in the best order.
Far from allowing his purveyors TO take
advantage of him, he examined every bill,
even for the most insignificant thing which
purchased for his court. Almost in
variably the merchants were obliged to
lower their prices"