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THE LETTER...
... this week is overflowing with event information. Our new painting of the month - François Gérard's portrait of Désirée Clary, the lady from Marseille who became queen of Sweden and Norway - is currently on display at the Château de Compiègne as part of the "Destins souverains: Napoléon Ier, le Tsar et le Roi de Suède" exhibition. Further down you will find a new website set up by the Waterloo 200 organisation, which is involved in the 1815 bicentenary events planning. We also have an in-depth review of three exhibitions taking place at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York as well as details of a new exhibition dedicated to the Siamese embassy visit to Fontainebleau in 1861. For those of you in or around London, we also have details of the IHR seminar being held on 21 November, which will hear Laura O'Brien discuss the historiography of the 1848 Revolution. We round off this week's letter with a selection of book reviews from the latest issue of Napoleonica. La Revue and our weekly look back at events from 200 and 150 years ago.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
Portrait of Bernardine-Eugénie-Désirée Clary, Princesse de Pontecorvo, by François Gérard
The life of Désirée Clary - a most curious individual - was to change forever following the meeting of the Bonaparte and Clary families in Marseille during the Revolutionary period. Despite harbouring no political ambitions, this bourgeois lady from the south of France was eventually obliged to join her husband, Bernadotte (who ascended to the throne in 1818), and assume her role of queen of Sweden and Norway, thereby lending the regime an air of dynastic solidity. This painting is currently on display as part of the "Destins souverains: Napoléon Ier, le Tsar et le Roi de Suède" exhibition which is being held at the Château de Compiègne, France.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
New website for the Waterloo 200 bicentenary
In preparation for the bicentenary events planned for 2015 to mark the Battle of Waterloo, the Waterloo 200 umbrella organisation, "approved and supported by [the British] Government to oversee the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo", has launched its newly redesigned website. As well as a Waterloo 2015 countdown timer, the website also features plenty of informative material regarding the charity's aims and mission, as well a number of articles on the history surrounding Waterloo and the battle. Those looking to get involved in the commemorative events planned for between now and 2015 can contact the organisation, and the site will be updated regularly as further details on events and upcoming projects are announced.
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
Issue n° 11 book reviews
As well as the five articles on a variety of different subjects, the latest edition of Napoleonica. La Revue also features two detailed book reviews. Issue n° 11 takes a look at Karine Salomé's L'Ouragan homicide. L'attentat politique en France au XIXe siècle, and Colin Carlin's William Kirkpatrick of Málaga. Consul, négociant and entrepreneur, and grandfather of the Empress Eugénie.
PRESS REVIEW
Review: exhibitions at the Morgan Library & Museum
And from book reviews we pass seamlessly to event reviews. "Charles Dickens at 200", "David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre", and "Ingres at the Morgan" have all recently opened at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, and the California Literary Review website features an article which weaves together the various historical strands, structure and objects from the three exhibitions.
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WHAT'S ON
"Siam in Fontainebleau", Fontainebleau, France
In early summer 1861, the Château de Fontainebleau was chosen by Napoleon III to host the reception of the Siamese embassy. This event was the consecration of five years of negotiations aimed at re-establishing diplomatic relations between France and the far-off Siam (today Thailand). The arrival of the representatives of King Rama IV Mongkut, ruler of the eastern kingdom, followed the Franco-Siamese treaty - initially concluded in 1851 by the French minister plenipotentiary Charles de Montigny - and echoed a similar visit which took place at the Château de Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV. This exhibition, which runs until 5 March 2012, retraces the history of this momentous event. For more information on the subject, why not take a look at our recent article on Franco-Siamese relations during the period, published last year on napoleon.org?
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IHR seminar: "Un devoir de publier?: Writing the History of the 1848 Revolution, 1848-70", London, UK
On 21 November at 5.30pm, Laura O'Brien (of Trinity College Dublin) will be giving a seminar entitled "Un devoir de publier?: Writing the History of the 1848 Revolution, 1848-70", organised by the Institute of Historical Research. The event will be held at the University of London Senate House.
200 years ago
The Battle of Sagunto
On 13 November 1811, news of a French victory in Spain was published in the Moniteur Universel. Soult had begun besieging the ancient fortified town Sagunto (not far from Spain's east coast north of Valencia) in September. The garrison resisted two attempts to take the city, and when Spanish forces under Joaquin Blake approached to relieve those besieged, Suchet with his Armée d'Aragon (composed of French, Italian and Polish troops) was forced to turn to meet the threat arriving from Valencia. And so, on 25 October 1811, at the Battle of Sagunto, Soult's better organised (though smaller in number) French troops inflicted a serious defeat on the Blake's men. Spanish casualties numbered around 6,000, hundreds were taken prisoner by the French, and the garrison (demoralised by the sight of such a dramatic defeat) capitulated the following day. French losses amounted to only a thousand or so. During the following weeks Soult occupied the fortress and gave his army time to recuperate. A British account of the battle appears in Cobbett's Political Register, for the date of 30 November 1811.
150 years ago
The Mexican campaign
On 12 November 1861, the first French troops of the expedition set off from France, bound for Mexico. Read all about the Mexican expedition in our timeline.
Achille Fould becomes Finance Minister
After an important speech made by the "new Necker", Achille Fould, on 12 November 1861, Napoleon III had two letters published in the Moniteur Universel (14 November 1861). The first congratulated Fould on his financial ideas and the second appointed him as Finance Minister, replacing Adolphe de Fourcade La Roquette (who had been in the post barely a year). As a consolation prize, de Fourcade La Roquette was made a senator.
Read the two new biographies on the site, Achille Fould and Adolphe de Fourcade La Roquette.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 603, 11 – 17 NOVEMBER, 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
Just published
- Charging Against Wellington: The French Cavalry in the Peninsular War, 1807-1814, by Bob Burnham
Press review
- BBC: Nelson letter sold for £20,200 at auction
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.
Exhibitions
- "Destins souverains: Napoléon Ier, le Tsar et le Roi de Suède", Compiègne, France [24/09/2011 - 09/01/2012]
Full details
- "Le Siam à Fontainebleau - l'ambassade du 28 juin 1861", Fontainebleau, France [05/11/2011 - 05/03/2012]
Full details
- "Ingres at the Morgan", New York, USA [09/09/2011 - 27/11/2011]
Full details
- "David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre", New York, USA [23/09/2011 - 31/12/2011]
Full details
- "Charles Dickens at 200", New York, USA [23/09/2011 - 12/02/2012]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
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- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
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