This is one of two posters commissioned by the Century Company from celebrated French Art Nouveau artist Eugene Grasset to promote the serialization of its forthcoming book, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte by William Sloane in The Century magazine. Grasset’s first American commission was in 1882 for an illustration in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. But after the 1890 Exposition des Affiches at the Grolier Club introduced the posters of Jules Chéret, Grasset, and their contemporaries to an educated American audience, Grasset’s work was in huge demand by American publishers whose clients fell into the same category. In 1892, Grasset designed his first large, color illustration for an American client, the cover of the Christmas issue of Harper’s. His poster here and its companion for The Century, titled The Sun of Austerlitz (also known as “The Wooly Horse”) had a much more significant cultural impact than the four-volume book on Napoleon that they promoted, dramatically influencing the Art Nouveau tendencies of “artistic” graphic designers like Will H. Bradley, Edward Penfield, and Louis Rhead. (The Wooly Horse was also reproduced by Tiffany in stained glass.)