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THE SUMMER SEASON...
... is on the horizon here in Paris, which means that this is the penultimate newsletter before the napoleon.org team takes a break from the weekly bulletin to catch up on some website spring (summer?) cleaning, ready to go for the return in September. But all that's still a whole week away, so in the meantime we have plenty of new content for you. It may seem a long time ago now, but it was only last November that Operation St Helena was launched by the Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien; since then, we've had donations from all over the world coming in. But it's not too late to donate: as you'll find out below, the campaign has recently become even more important following UNESCO's decision not to add St Helena to the World Heritage List. Next up is a whole host of period pamphlets that have just been added to the foundation's digital library; with nearly thirty now available, there's plenty to keep you reading. We also have Georges Poisson's article on the Universal Exhibition of 1855, which gives you the full lowdown on the preparations and motives behind the event, as well as details of some of the more interesting exhibits. We follow that with news of the Society for the Study of French History's 25th annual conference, which takes place in Cambridge in a week's time, plus a recently published book review from the Reviews in History website. We finish off this letter with 200 and 150 years ago: General Suchet is named Maréchal de France, and Napoleon III visits Vichy for some spa treatment. After next week's edition, the bulletin will return on Friday 9 September. The Bibliothèaue Martial Lapeyre here at the foundation will remain open throughout the summer: you will find the opening times on the right-hand side of the letter.
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OPERATION ST HELENA
St Helena not added to World Heritage List
In bulletin n° 578 of the French newsletter, we reported that St Helena featured on the UK's shortlist of potential additions to UNESCO's World Heritage List. Following a decision made in Paris in June, St Helena has not been added to the World Heritage List, which saw twenty-five new inscriptions (external link). Without the added support of UNESCO, Operation St Helena, the fund-raising campaign organised by the Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien in collaboration with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, takes on an even greater significance. Everything you need to know about the project - including plans for the restoration of Longwood House - and how to donate can be found on our project homepage.
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DIGITAL LIBRARY
New pamphlets added
The Fondation Napoléon's digital library is continually being enriched, with rare, out-of-print, and antique books, pamphlets and other documents forming the bulk of the content available online. The latest update is a veritable treasure trove of French-language period pamphlets on Napoleonic subjects as diverse as the hymns chosen for Napoleon I's coronation in 1804, details on the death of the Duc d'Enghien and Caulaincourt's justification for the execution, and an analysis of Napoleon III's relationship with Great Britain. And for those of you with more esoteric tastes, we also have a curious but fascinating text by a certain E. Letellier on the origins of the Bonaparte and Napoleon names, which takes in the mythical history of ancient Albion, early Gallic numismatics, and the close ties between the French emperor and Apollo (Encore une singulière Découverte : d'où vient le nom de Napoléon et celui de Bonaparte, les deux noms alliés ensemble depuis 2500 ans, prouvé par un grand nombre de monnaies gauloises de l'ouest de la France et de l'île d'Albion).
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
"1855. France's first international exhibition", by Georges Poisson
The Universal Exhibition held in Paris in 1855 came about through a number of factors: Saint-Simonian ideals, a competitive relationship with Britain - whose own event in 1851 had proved a roaring success - and a desire to recognise the technological and cultural advances made in Europe and across the world. Lead by Napoleon III and Jerome "Plon-Plon" Napoleon, the exhibition - organised on a gigantic scale and taking up huge areas of real-estate on the banks of the Seine - ran for six months, featured 24,000 exhibitors, and introduced the wider world to the uses of reinforced concrete, the intense sewing machine wars, and a curious new musical instrument from a certain Adolphe Sax. For more information, take a look at our close-up file on the universal exhibitions of the Second Empire period.
And it's a double helping of Georges Poisson this month, with the French side of napoleon.org featuring the historian's article, "Napoléon et le château de Vincennes".
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WHAT'S ON
Society for the Study of French History 25th annual conference, Cambridge, UK
The theme of the 25th annual conference, which runs between 14 and 15 July and is organised by the Society for the Study of French History, is "Celebrating France". A couple of the panels feature papers on Napoleonic history, including, "Imperial rosières and wounded heroes? State-sponsored marriages under Napoleon", by Jennifer Heuer, "The Elevated Status of Napoleon's Prefects: the Example of the Bas-Languedoc, by Roger Duck, and "Getting to East of Suez: French Imperialism in the Second Empire and the Celebration of the Suez Canal in 1869", by James Fichter.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
Book review: Health and Medicine at Sea, 1700-1900, edited by David Boyd Haycock and Sally Archer
For those of you interested in maritime and medical history, the Reviews in History website features an interesting and in-depth review (external link) on Health and Medicine at Sea, 1700-1900, edited by David Boyd Haycock and Sally Archer.
200 YEARS AGO
General Suchet named Imperial marechal
On campaign in Spain since 1808, Louis-Gabriel Suchet, in charge of the Armée d'Aragon who had also received overall command for much of Catalonia, lead the siege on Tarragona in May and June 1811. This important city, situated on the Catalan coast and still in Spanish hands, was supported by the British fleet, stationed just outside the port. The siege lasted nearly two months, during which time the French assault was hampered by British-dropped reinforcements and heavy bombardment from sea. However, Suchet succeeded in building a beach fort to house cannons of his own, thereby driving the British warships out of range. After overcoming a number of well-defended forts and fortification, the French army proceeded up through the city and captured 8,000 Spanish soldiers of the 10,000-strong garrison. The fall of the city crowned a series of Spanish victories for Suchet (which included the capture of another Catalan city, Tortosa, earlier that year) and saw Napoleon name the general Imperial marechal on 8 July, 1811, the only French general to receive such an honour for successes in Spain.
Balzac's novel Les Marana (published in 1834) begins with a vivid description of the fall of Tarragona:
"Tarragona attacked, raging, fires burning at every crossroads: Tarragona assaulted, her hair strewn and matted, half-naked, her streets ablaze, drowning in French soldiers, killed or killing." [Les Marana, Honoré de Balzac, 1834]
For more on the siege of Tarragona, the exhibition currently taking place at the city's Centre for Maritime Studies includes an online video report.
150 YEARS AGO
Napoleon III takes the water in Vichy
On 4 July, 1861, Napoleon III arrived in Vichy to take the waters there for the first time. Although relatively well-known for its curative springs (Louis XV's daughters spent time there, as did Madame Mère), it had lost ground to other more popular stations in France and abroad, such as Plombières and Baden-Baden. Advised to take the waters to improve his flagging health (which included gout, rheumatism, and migraines), the French emperor spent about a month in the town, during which time he set in motion a grand project to redevelop Vichy and make it "a little Paris". His stay in the town was punctuated by large public displays of respect and delight (the Moniteur Universel noted on 9 July, 1861 that "more than 40,000 country-folk had occupied the park [...] in order not to miss any opportunity to see and greet the emperor") and resulted in a decree dated 27 July, 1861, which outlined Napoleon III's "charter" for a Vichy of the future. The seven articles outlined, amongst others, a new open park space, a new church and town hall, and new "spa roads" designed to facilitate access to the town. Napoleon III also had a telegraph line installed in order to remain in contact those at Saint-Cloud and the Tuileries.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 592, 8 - 14 JULY, 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.
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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...
MAGAZINE
Seen on the web (external links)
- Book review: Health and Medicine at Sea, 1700-1900, edited by David Boyd Haycock and Sally Archer
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
- Society for the Study of French History 25th annual conference, Cambridge, UK [14/07/2011-15/07/2011]
Full details
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The library will remain open throughout July and August, as per the above opening times.
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