Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba

Napoleon Bonaparte? J.T.R. of Baltimore? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A famous palindrome is attributed to the renowned French leader Napoleon Bonaparte who was once exiled to the island of Elba: Able was I ere I saw Elba. Supposedly Napoleon said this reversible phrase to Barry Edward O’Meara who was his physician during his captivity on …