Napoleonic Pleasures

La fête impériale, par Frédéric Loliée (Paris: F. Joven, 1907) Almost forty years after the fall of the Second Empire, people began to be nostalgic for that gay, insouciant Paris of Napoleon III, not however forgetting (or perhaps remembering especially) the darker side to her reputation. Whilst the extraordinary costume balls, the lights, the cafes, […]

Histoire de Napoléon, par M. de Norvins, illustrée par Raffet, (Paris: Furne et Cie, 1827) There are two books which all Napoleon fans (and bibliophiles) should have on their shelves: the first is Jacques de Norvins' Histoire de Napoléon, published in 1827 and illustrated by Raffet, and the second is Laurent de l'Ardèche's work with […]

The official description of the Battle of Austerlitz, according to Napoleon’s instructions Starting during the Consulate, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the Dépôt général de la guerre to write the history of his campaigns. The Consul, and later Emperor, gave the first 'instructions', and then corrected the proofs written by others. The aim was to create works […]

Mercure de France, 4 juillet 1807. Chateaubriand wrote: “It is in vain that Nero prospers …” The Mercure de France, the once celebrated literary review founded in the 17th century, which died many times but which was continually to be resuscitated, would not have been particularly noticed during the First Empire, had not the new […]

Histoire de l’Empereur Napoléon (History of the Emperor Napoleon), by Laurent de l’Ardèche, illustrated by Horace Vernet (Paris: J.-J. Dubochet, 1839) 1839: the statue of Napoleon once again stood on top of the Vendôme Column, the Arc de Triomphe was finished, the songs of Béranger recounting the fall of the eagle were hummed on streets […]

John R. Glover, secretary to Rear Admiral Cockburn (on board the "Northumberland"), with introd. and notes by J. Holland Rose, London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1906 Introduction  This previously unpublished account of Napoleon's voyage to St Helena by a British eyewitness was published almost simultaneously in French and English in 1893.The author was John Richard Glover, […]

Marchand’s memoirs Louis Marchand entered service in the Imperial Household in 1811 as garçon d'appartement (house servant), subsequently becoming Premier valet de chambre (First Valet of the Emperor's Chamber). He followed Napoleon to Elba and then St Helena, becoming one of the key figures in creation of the legend around the fallen emperor. Marchand returned […]

Les origines de la légende napoléonienne: l’œuvre historique de Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène (English title: The exile of St Helena: the last phase in fact and fiction) by Philippe Gonnard (Paris, 1906) This book found its origin in the author's PhD thesis and was to remain a work of reference, both in positive and negative terms, […]

The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, Emperor of the French. With a Preliminary View of the French Revolution. By the Author of "Waverley", &c., de Walter Scott Of all the “historical” biographies of Napoleon, the one most often forgotten but one which played an important part in the creation of the Napoleonic legend was Sir Walter […]

  Il avait un’ moustache énorme, Un grand sabre et des croix partout, Partout, partout ! Mais tout ça c’était pour la forme, Et ça n’servait à rien du tout, Rien du tout, C’était un fameux capitaine Qui t’nait avant tout à sa peau, A sa peau ! Un jour il voit qu’son sabre l’gêne, […]