So, we’re just going through the stacks of the library randomly looking at interesting volumes as one does, when suddenly what do we find but a book owned by the one and only Betsy Bonaparte!
Why is this cool, you may ask? Here’s why! Betsy Bonaparte is the daughter of William Patterson, Baltimore merchant extraordinaire. You’re probably familiar with his name if you ever hang out in Patterson Park. But back to Betsy! Betsy was known for dressing like some sort of intellectual tart which is totally awesome! Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, liked his ladies all intellectual and tarty and so married her, only to have Napoleon be all like, “dude, remove yourself from this Baltimore hussy” and he eventually complied. Romance! Baltimore! Stupid short French dudes taking away everyone’s fun!
Yep, we got all that from a signature in Pope’s The Works of Shakespear (1725). Plus, Ms. Bonaparte had excellent taste in old books! Pizzazz!
