Napoleonic Pleasures

The Publication of Letters of the French Army, Intercepted by the British During the Egyptian expedition, English and Turkish boats captured French vessels carrying letters from the men of the army and scientists. The English chancery read these missives carefully, which gave an excellent impression of the state of the French army in Egypt, their […]

Funérailles de l’Empereur Napoléon [1840], Album de lithographies. Ouvrage dédié à Son Altesse Royale le prince de Joinville, chargé par le roi d’accomplir le dernier voeu de l’Empereur 'I wish my remains to rest on the banks of the Seine among the people of France whom I so much loved.' (Last Will and Testament of Napoleon […]

Clement Shorter, Napoleon in his own defence (London, 1910) Clement Shorter was a self-made man who led a successful career in journalism. Indeed he not only founded The Tatler in 1901 but was also editor of various publications, including the Illustrated London News and the English Illustrated Magazine. He was also founder editor of The […]

A Napoleonic collection in the heart of London John Sainsbury was a Napoleonic sympathiser who amassed a large collection of Napoleonic memorabilia. Mogg’s New Picture of London (1844) described him as a clerical agent. The reason for his amassing a collection of Napoleonica was in order to give a reply to the “unmeasured abuse” which […]

"The geographical plan of the Island & Forts of Ste Helena" Napoleon I's exile on the island of St Helena has contributed greatly to a heightened interest – particularly amongst the British public – in this scrap of land in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Lieutenant Read – his name and rank are the […]

Mémorial de Sir Hudson Lowe, relatif à la captivité de Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène, Paris, Léo Dureuil, 1830 Despite the title, (literally Memoirs of Sir Hudson Lowe regarding the captivity of Napoleon on St Helena), these memoirs are actually a fabrication put together by two Parisian hacks named Léon-Jérôme Vidal (1797-1873) and Alphonse Signol (18??-1830). Their […]

Le voyage de Monsieur Perrichon, a comedy in four parts, by Eugène Labiche On 10 September, 1860, the premiere of Eugène Labiche's Le Voyage de Monsieur Perrichon, a comedy in four acts, was held at the Théâtre du Gymnase in Paris. The play, considered by many to be representative of the bourgeoisie during the Second […]

William Wordsworth’s sonnets to Andreas Hofer which contributed to the romanticisation of the innkeeper’s image and the legend surrounding the insurrection.

Burial of Sir John Moore, 1809 A Metrical History of the life and times of Napoleon Bonaparte by William J. Hillis, pp208-209 “Sir John Moore could no doubt have made terms with Marshal Soult, whereby he would have been permitted to embark his troops under very reasonable conditions; but he chose to ask no favours from […]