The owner of Napoleon Bonaparte's penis was recently offered $300,000 – but it certainly wasn’t priced at that because of its size.
The penis was previously owned by urologist John Lattimer, but when he died in 2007, all of his oddities were left to his daughter Evan.
Historian and broadcaster Ashley Cowie told Moncrieff the penis of the former French leader is a much-desired object.
“She was offered $12,000 in 1978 for the penis, but more recently, she's been offered over $300,000,” he said.
After Napoleon died in 1815, he was transported to St. Helena Island in the Atlantic where, in 1821, surgeon Francesco Antommarchi allegedly cut off his penis.
“But the penis was actually stolen then by Napoleon's cleric who did his last rites,” Mr Cowie explained.
“The cleric had it in for Napoleon, and when he saw the size of Napoleon's member, he couldn't do anything but steal that thing.”
The Little General
Mr Cowie explained when the surgeon cut off Napoleon’s penis, he put it in formaldehyde to preserve it.
“And here’s the thing - when the penis was finally measured, it comes in at just under an inch, just over two centimetres.
“Now if you imagine that was placed in formaldehyde within the days after being cut off, that suggests the penis measuring just under an inch is almost the same size as it was when it was cut off.”
So a replica of Napoleon's Penis was on display in #NYC for a few hours #DailyWhat?! https://t.co/ky0IooPOXL pic.twitter.com/Y86N5CaxmI
— Untapped New York (@UntappedNY) October 23, 2015
This is particularly ironic, Mr Cowie explained, when you consider that Le Petit General wasn’t that petit by historical standards.
“The average Frenchman was measured four foot nine at that time and Napoleon was pushing a good five six,” he said.
“The reason they called them The Small General was because he surrounded himself with enormous bodyguards.
“If we accept that Napoleon was slightly higher than the average Frenchman, it means that Becker was particularly tiny.
“You could almost say Napoleon’s appendage is medically defined today as a micro-penis.”
That probably made it easier for the cleric who stole it to smuggle it.
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