The Fondation Napoléon (founded in 1987) is a registered charity committed to the encouragement of the study of and interest in the history of the First and Second Empires and the preservation of Napoleonic heritage.
HIGHLIGHTED ON NAPOLEON.ORG, 6 - 12 NOVEMBER, 2009 THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY Autumn opening times: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: 1pm-6pm Thursday: 10am-3pm (Closed Friday)
BOOK OF THE MONTH Clisson and Eugénie, by Napoleon Bonaparte Triumphant on the field of battle, Clisson turns his back on worldly success. He falls in love and marries Eugénie, but how long will their passion survive?
The tragic tale of Clisson and Eugénie reveals one of history's great leaders as an accomplished writer of fiction. Completed when he was only 26, the story contains parallels with Napoleon's own experiences and offers a fascinating insight into the young man's view of love, women and military life.
Peter Hicks and Emilie Barthet have created the definitive version of Clisson and Eugénie from original fragments of manuscript. This edition includes their notes and commentary on Napoleon the writer, and an introduction by Napoleonic specialist, Armand Cabasson, on the man behind the legend.
WHAT'S ON THIS WEEKEND Naval Dockyards Society Thirteenth Annual Conference On 7 November, 2009, is the thirteenth annual conference of the Naval Dockyards Society, in Portsmouth, UK. 2009 is the 250th anniversary of the British 'Year of Victories' - a series of military victories in North America and India and naval victories in Guadeloupe and Quiberon Bay. It was the decisive year of the Seven Years' War and was also the year of the laying of the keel of HMS Victory in No.2 Dock, Chatham, on 23 July. Victory was designed by Surveyor of the Navy Thomas Slade, the leading naval architect of his day, appointed by George Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty for most of the war.
WHAT'S ON Torretta Valadier Napoleonic exhibition On Saturday 14 November, 2009, between 10am and 6pm, an exhibition of Napoleonic documents, prints and memorabilia will be taking place at the Torretta Valadier, in Rome. This event is part of the bicentenary celebrations of the union between the Pontifical state and the French Empire.
On show will be objects from private collections related to the Napoleonic epic in general and specifically to the difficult relations between Rome and Revolutionary France which lead to the proclamation of the Jacobin Republic of Rome (1798-1799) and to the union of the Pontifical state with French empire (1809-1814) and the resulting abolition of papal temporal power.
OBJET D'ART OF THE MONTH The Prince Imperial's velocipede This velocipede, which may have once belonged to Napoleon III's son, Napoleon-Eugene the Prince Imperial, was given to Alberto di Roccagiovine (son of Julie Bonaparte, who was the daughter of Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, who in turn was the son of Lucien Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon). As the maker's stamp on the velocipede mentions the years 1871-1874, the period when the Michaux company was selling its patents to the Olivier brothers, Alberto Roccagiovine may have received the machine in November or December 1876, when the young Prince Imperial, accompanied by his mother, paid a formal visit to his extended family in Rome.
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH "Joseph Bonaparte's American Retreat", by Patricia Tyson Stroud Our latest article of the month covers Joseph Bonaparte's life in exile in the United States following the defeat of his brother, Napoleon, at the Battle of Waterloo. The Comte de Survilliers, as he called himself upon arrival in New Jersey, became well-known for his collection of European paintings, his enormous library, and the hospitality experienced by guests at his American mansion, "Point Breeze". Eventually joined by his two daughters but never his wife, Julie Clary, he remained a resident of New Jersey until 1832.
PAINTING OF THE MONTH Princess Mathilde's dining room, by Charles Giraud In 1854, Giraud painted the princess's "dining room"; more accurately, it depicts the winter garden in which an oval table has been set for ten (a watercolour hanging in the Musée des Arts décoratifs depicts the "actual" dining room). The shape of the room evokes an atrium from antiquity, as well as being reminiscent of the atrium in the Prince Napoleon's "Maison pompéienne". The sober table settings (white tablecloth, silver cutlery similar to the Emperor's Tuileries service) are in stark contrast to the luxurious interior of the room.
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