A tooth that was allegedly yanked from Napoleon Bonaparte's pie hole will go up for auction next week at the Dominic Winter auction house in Swindon, England. It's expected to go for £5000-7000. From the auction catalogue:
An upper right permanent canine tooth, believed to have been extracted from Napoleon's mouth by his St Helena physician Barry O'Meara, 1817, the tooth well worn and sl. cracked, brown stain to root, approx. 25 mm, glued lengthways to a piece of card with a biro inscription [in Cecilia Laura White's hand], loosely contained in a small old glazed casket with gilt trim and legs and hinged lid, together with a soiled and damaged card of the tooth's provenance dated 1890 and written by the above-mentioned Cecilia White's mother Cecilia Montagu, plus an engraved brass name plaque of Francesco Maceroni, a further note of provenance in Cecilia White's hand and a photocopy of provenance in the form of a family tree, also in the hand of Cecilia White, dated 15th September 1962, with an additional note by the current owner…
Dr Alexander Baxter, Lowe's deputy inspector of hospitals on St Helena, also notes this extraction in a letter of 17th November 1817: "I have the honor to inform your Excellency that Napoleon Bonaparte suffered a good deal from Toothack on the night of the 15th instant, and in consequence was at last induced to permit Mr. O'Meara to extract the dent sapientie of the right side of the upper jaw. This is the first surgical operation that has ever been performed upon his body. The tooth was carrious in two places."
Link to auction catalog (the tooth is lot #431), Link to Ananova article, Link to BBC News article (Thanks, Julia Solis!)
