References
“Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica.
A clever skit on a prevailing literary fad is John Kendrick Bangs’ ‘Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica,’ illustrated by H.W. McVickar. Bangs has taken up the life of the great Emperor himself and treated it as he treats the members of his boarding-house table in ‘Coffee and Repartee.’ Many of the anecdotes found in the memoirs of Bourrienne, Meneval and others are utilized, but they are given so amusing a twist that none would recognize them in their new settings. Mr. Bangs makes a feature of the jealousy of Joseph Bonaparte, out of which he gets a great deal of sport. There isn’t a dull page in the book, but it must be read like a book of jokes, in odd half hours, as the best witticisms become tiresome if one takes them consecutively. The pictures by McVickar are as amusing as the text. [New York: Harper & Brothers. For sale by the Popular Book Store, 10 Post street; price $1.25.]”
– The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California, 28 April 1895
“Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica.
Readers who have enjoyed John Kendrick Bangs’ clever whimsies in ‘The Idiot’ and ‘The Water Ghost and Others’ will not feel that this author has added anything either to their enjoyment or his own reputation by this latest book. To juggle with facts and characters of history as Mr. Bangs has essayed to do in ‘Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica’ is exceedingly delicate work. The line between humor and buffoonery is very lightly drawn, and he is a fortunate writer who succeeds in keeping upon the pleasanter side of that line. Mr. Bangs has not entirely succeeded in doing this. In his facetious account of the life and adventures of the great Corsican he is often humorous, oftener clownish, and oftenest of all merely dreary and uninteresting. The pretty play of whimsical invention, the delicate inconsequence of ‘The Idiot’ is wholly missing from this later book, and not even the fact that the present Napoleonic craze is in danger of being overdone can blind us to the other fact that ‘Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica’ is decidedly underdone – in a word, very raw indeed. The illustrations by McVicar are the best thing about the book. [New York: Harper & Bros. publishers. For sale by Payot, Upsham & Co. and the Popular bookstore.]”
– The San Francisco Call, San Francisco, California, 12 May 1895
“Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica.
Mr. John Kendrick Bangs’ has just published through Harper & Bros. a small volume, with illustrations by H. W. McVicar, entitled ‘Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica.’ The fact that Napoleon’s military career began during the first year of his life, with the forced marches which by his command his father executed at dead of night, is pointed out by Mr. Bangs; and such items of information – intimately personal and interesting, yet hitherto unpublished – will be found in abundance. The crowning merit of a humorous work is that the author should know where to draw the line, and at that point it has been drawn. In this book there is no violence done to history; the author has had regard for the recognized authorities, but has embroidered the thought with with – not otherwise than as the artist has enlivened and decorated the pages with drawings.”
– The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, 11 May 1895
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