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Bulletin - Bulletin  
        
   
    THIS WEEK'S LETTER...
... throws its net wide, both thematically and geographically speaking. Our latest book of the month, the proceedings of the international conference "Imperio napoleónico y la nueva cultura política europea" held in Madrid nearly three years ago, discusses the Napoleonic system on a European regional level. Just below that are details of another recently published work, which brings together stories of famous (and not so famous) Belgians from the four corners of the world. Next up, our press review features two History Today articles, one considering the influence of the Risorgimento on Italian unity and politics, and the other investigating the legacy of Western involvement in China during the 19th century. There's more on China further down, as 150 years ago looks back on an exhibition of "Chinese curiosities" held at the Tuileries Palace in 1861, whilst 200 years ago sees Napoleon looking to his northern coastal territories as he considers the problem of smuggling in the empire. And with an exhibition on French romantic gardens (in Paris), a National Maritime Museum seminar (in London), and the Fondation Napoléon's "Napoleon and the family" study day (La Courneuve) all on the horizon, there's also plenty to be seeing and doing in March.


  
   
BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Napoleonic Empire and the new European political culture, edited by Michael Broers, Agustín Guimerá and Peter Hicks
The proceedings of the international conference "Imperio napoleónico y la nueva cultura política europea", held in Madrid in April 2008, have been published in English and in Spanish. This collection of articles, edited by Michael Broers, Agustín Guimerá and Peter Hicks, takes a look at the Napoleonic Empire and the birth of a new European political culture, and takes into consideration three themes or, more appropriately, three areas of enquiry, set in various regional contexts: 1) the Napoleonic empire as a collective enterprise; 2) the interaction, both collaborative and antagonistic, between the Grande Nation and the European territories it conquered; and 3) the imperialistic nature and reception of French rule in Europe. This work includes contributions from Howard Brown, Thierry Lentz, Rafe Blaufarb, Annie Jourdan, Alan Forrest, Karen Hagemann, Alex Grabb, Anna Maria Rao, Jean-Rene Aymes, Jose Maria Portillo Valdés, and Marta Lorente.
 
The French book of the month is Louis-Napoléon prisonnier. Du fort de Ham aux ors des Tuileries, by Juliette Glikman.


  
    JUST PUBLISHED
Off the Napoleonic track (well, sort of...)

We always suspected as much, but now it's been confirmed: pockets of Belgium can be found all over the world. Yves Vander Cruysen, Waterloo's deputy burgomaster and DG of "Waterloo 1815", set out in search of evidence and signs of Belgium dotted across the globe. And this month, he has returned bearing the fruits of this journey, in the form of a marvellous little book, Curieuses histoires des aventures belges. Quand nous partions à la conquête du monde, published by Editions Jourdan. More than one hundred stories and accounts later, the book takes a look at characters such as Perlot the Californian gold-seeker and Leopold II, "The African", as well as the golden age of the Ostende Company, Xavier de Mérode's Papal Zouaves, and Goethals, the bishop of Calcutta. All this before even mentioning the name of Waterloo, scattered liberally across the world, or the services rendered by Catherine Sablon, Napoleon's cook on St Helena. After this book, it's hard not to agree with Julius Caesar (or indeed Yves Vander Cruysen): fortissimi sunt Belgae.


  
   
SEEN IN THE PRESS
History Today March 2011

The March 2011 issue of History Today features two articles of Napoleonic interest. First up, Alexander Lee (in "The sins of the fathers: Italy's democratic deficit") takes a look at the nature of Italian democracy and how the Risorgimento, the 150th anniversary of which is being commemorated this year, has influenced Italy's political and democratic composition. Later on, Robert Bickers discusses (in "China's Age of Fragility") the legacy of Western involvement in China during the 19th century, including the infamous sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860.


  
   
WHAT'S ON
"French Romantic gardens (1770-1840)", Paris, France

In the years leading up to the Revolution, the first picturesque and pastoral gardens sprung up across France, planted by enlightened spirits who sought surroundings stimulating to the senses and imbued with a pre-Romantic melancholy. During the Empire period, Josephine added to the gardens of Malmaison with cuttings and cultivars brought in from as far afield as Africa and Australia. Louis-Martin Berthaut was brought in to redesign Malmaison's greenery "à l'anglaise", whilst the famous Belgian artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté, known as "the Raphael of flowers", was commissioned to paint the French empress' roses.
  
National Maritime Museum Greenwich seminars: "The Atlantic maritime frontier: piracy and the pursuit of governmental legitimacy in the modern state, 1688–1856", London, UK
Dr Guy Chet's talk entitled "'The Atlantic maritime frontier: piracy and the pursuit of governmental legitimacy in the modern state', 1688–1856" is the latest in the series of seminars organised by the National Maritime Museum Greenwich and held at the Institute of Historical Research, London. The talk is scheduled for 8 March, at 5.15pm, and will be followed by fifteen to thirty minutes of questions and discussion.


  
   
Les Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon: "Napoleon and the family"
31 March is the date set for latest edition of the Fondation Napoléon's "Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon" study days. Organised in partnership with the Université de Paris-Est Créteil, the day will see a number of talks given on the subject of "Napoleon and the family". The programme for the day is now available online at napoleon.org: attendance is free but registration for the event is essential.


200 YEARS AGO
Napoleon considers the smuggling problem

As well as legitimate trade concerns regarding Russia's ukase in December 1810 (see bulletin n° 574), early March also saw Napoleon examining the illegal import and export of goods within the northern territories of his empire. The Fontainebleau decree dated 10 October, 1810, had markedly widened the scope for prosecuting and punishing those engaged in smuggling and counterfeit, whilst also ordering all British-produced goods seized in France to be burned publicly. And although the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg and, more notably, the Duchy of Oldenburg (see bulletin n° 564) had been incorporated into the French Empire with the aim of securing the coast, counterfeit, fraud and smuggling remained rife. The redirection of French troops, who played an important role in enforcing the custom measures in place, into the Peninsular campaigns also threw wide open the Dutch and Baltic coasts to smuggling.
 
On 5 March, 1811, Napoleon instructed his aide-de-camp, the Comte Lemarois, to stop over in Dunkirk for two or three days "in order to see what sort of business the smugglers are doing, the quantity of British newspapers they are bringing in and the attention these newspapers receive in Dunkirk; in essence, find out what I should know [about the smuggling]."
 
A few days later, in his daily police bulletin for 8 March compiled by Savary, the February statistics for Dunkirk came in:
 
"Imports in guineas: 152,661, estimated at 3 169 186 fr. [around 6.5 million euros today]; exports, 192 627 fr.."
 
The report went on to list the principal goods smuggled as "eau de vie, Dutch gin, lace, silk, batiste, leather gloves, perfume and jewellery".

 
150 YEARS AGO
An exhibition of "Chinese curiosities"

Tucked away in the 7 March, 1861 edition of Moniteur Universel, there was a small announcement reminding Parisians of the exhibition of "Chinese curiosities" at the Tuileries Palace. The display featured a selection of artefacts looted during the sack of the Summer Palace in 1860 which had subsequently been presented to the imperial couple upon the French army's return.
 
The exhibition, organised by Lieutenant-colonel Campenon, ran from 23 February to 10 April and included a number of "curious objects", including:
 
- two enormous gilt brass chimaeras, each weighing 400 kg;
- a full imperial costume belonging to the Chinese emperor (which included two layers of gold-embroidered and rich yellow silk, and a steel mail suit, complete with steel and gold helmet);
- a gilt bronze pagoda, which found a home in the palace's imperial gardens.
 
The choice pieces from the Tuileries exhibition ended up at the Musée Chinois de l'impératrice Eugénie, in Fontainebleau, inaugurated on 14 June, 1863, and which remains open to this day. The Universal Exhibition, which opened in London in 1862, also featured a number of Chinese artefacts taken from the palace. 
 
For more on the sack of the Summer Palace, take a look at our close-up on: the Franco-British expedition to China, 1860.
 
 
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week, 
 
Hamish Davey Wright
Web-editor
 
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 574, 4 – 10 March, 2011
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© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.


  
   

  
      OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced an international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon.org.
 
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
 
STATISTIC OF THE WEEK
Amongst the treasures and artefacts looted from the Summer Palace in 1860 were two huge gilt brass chimaeras, weighing a combined total of 800 kg, which were subsequently gifted to Napoleon III and Eugenie upon the French expeditionary corps' return to France.


MAGAZINE
Press review 

History Today March 2011

EVENTS
On now and coming up

A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
 

Conferences
- Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850, Tallahassee 2011, Tallahassee, USA [03/03/2011 - 05/03/2011]
Full details

Exhibitions
- "French Romantic gardens (1770-1840)", Paris, France
[08/03/2011 - 17/07/2011] 
Full details

 
Festivals
- Patrick O'Brian weekend, Portsmouth, UK [11/03/2011 - 13/03/2011]
Full details


Study days
- Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon: "Napoleon and the family", La Courneuve, France [31/03/2011]
Full details 

Talks
- National Maritime Museum Greenwich seminars: "The Atlantic maritime frontier: piracy and the pursuit of governmental legitimacy in the modern state, 1688–1856", London, UK
[08/03/2011]
Full details

 

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