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Operation to save the home of the emperor: a huge step forward
On 8 December, we announced the early results of the fundraising campaign to save the emperor's home on St Helena. They are extremely encouraging and allow us to envisage a complete restoration for the French estates on the island.
On 1 December 2011, the appeal stood at 1,022,551 euros, a not inconsiderable sum. This provisional total includes donations made by the partner institutions (200,000 € from the Fondation Napoléon, the Souvenir Napoléonien and the Fondation du Patrimoine), contributions from other corporate bodies (134,465 € from businesses and associations), and public donations (688,086 €).
As of now, the funding of the restoration and reconstruction of the Generals' wing is assured: 700,000 € will come from the appeal, with 700,000 € guaranteed by the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
The success of the appeal has enabled the organisers to give the go ahead for the immediate restoration of the interiors of the emperor's apartments. Tapestries, throws, and tenures will all be restored and - if necessary - replaced. A sum of 50,000 € has already been released and placed at the estates' disposal. The first room to be renovated will be the drawing room in which Napoleon I died on 5 May 1821.
The remainder of the money collected, along with any received between now and the campaign's closing date in June 2012, will be used for the restoration of the furniture, about one hundred and fifty authentic items all told. Such an operation will require the temporary removal of the items to France. Once the restoration process - undertaken by specialists from various national museums - has been completed and before their return to the island, these extremely moving pieces will be presented to the public in a grand exhibition organised by the Musée de l'Armée. Donors will naturally receive priority access to this presentation.
As has been the case since the start, we will continue to maintain a policy of full and permanent transparency regarding the project. From January, all receipts and expenses will be available online via www.napoleon.org and will be regularly maintained and updated. Readers of the newsletter will also receive regular updates regarding the progress of the works undertaken; those interested will also be able to follow the operation in (almost) real-time, on the blog maintained by Michel Dancoisne-Martineau, curator of the French estates on the island. Donors can also contact us at any time for complementary information, either via post or via email. All requests will be answered fully.
Finally, we should like to inform donors that beginning in January 2012, the certificates will be dispatched.
All this being said, we can still improve on the project's success. The campaign will remain ongoing up to the end of June 2012, allowing those so inclined to make a donation for the 2012 fiscal year. Every cent counts, particularly taking into account the furniture's removal from the island; we should also like to guard against any potential accidents during work on the Generals' wing.
Thanks to the involvement of almost 1,200 donors, together we shall realise the largest, most complete restoration project undertaken on Longwood since the 1930s. This unique opportunity will ensure that this historic heritage so intimately embedded in the national and Napoleonic memories will be preserved for many years to come.
We thank you all for your donations, and please do continue to support the campaign.
Victor-André Masséna
President, Fondation Napoléon
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
"Walcheren – the debacle", by Peter Hicks
The two articles of the month this time around are a decidedly in-house affair. In an updated version of his article that appeared in issue 20 of the Trafalgar Chronicle, Peter Hicks takes a look at Castlereagh's pet scheme, the capture of the island of Walcheren. An attempt to seize control of the Scheldt estuary, the five-month operation proved to be a catastrophic failure: as well as losing 4,000 men to "Walcheren fever", Britain was also faced with a bill of one million pounds sterling. The aftermath would see Castlereagh's reputation tarnished, Pitt's cabinet ruined, and Canning's thigh full of lead. Whilst on the French side, we have François Houdecek's fascinating article on the papyri scrolls presented to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803 and the scientific (and not-so-scientific) attempts to uncover their secrets.
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WHAT'S ON
Christmas at the Napoleonmuseum, Thurgau, Switzerland
Turning our attention to the Napoleonic community once more (see information on Marie-Louise week at the Museo Glauco Lombardi on the right-hand side), we bring you details of events taking place in Switzerland. The Napoleonmuseum in Thurgau is currently celebrating the festive period with a series of Christmas-themed events, running until 21 December. This Sunday - 18 December from 1pm - is the last Advent concert, which features Katja Verdi on recorder and Meriem Bouafia-Fischer on flute. Visitors on Sunday will also be able to take part in a wine-tasting session led by Michael Pollich, Arenenberg's vintner, whilst between 1pm and 4pm, visitors will be able to tour the grounds in a horse-drawn carriage. And whichever day you go between now and 21 December, from 4pm you will be able to experience the sight of the château's Christmas tree, erected on the shores of Lake Constance, lit by more than 750 lamps. Every visitor will also receive a small Christmas gift!
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Christmas and New Year Selection 2011/2012
As announced last week, our Christmas and New Year Selection for 2011/2012 is now online, featuring a host of gift ideas and reading suggestions culled from the last year or so of Napoleonic releases. The more technologically-minded amongst you will also find links to MP3 audio files and ebooks where available.
History Prizes and Research Grants awards ceremony photos
The Fondation Napoléon's Facebook page now has a host of photos taken from the recent awards ceremony that took place at the French Government Palace of Foreign and European Affairs in Paris last week.
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NEWS FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WORLD
HMS Victory to be restored
The British Ministry of Defence has announced that HMS Victory, the world's oldest commissioned warship, is set to be restored in a ten year, £16 million project. The restoration will include the ship's masts, rigging and bowsprit, as well as the replacement of the decayed timber and side planking.
HMS Victory was Lord Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It represents the most extensive restoration project undertaken on the 246-year-old warship.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
"Trafalgar, Nelson, and the national memory" on the ODNB
Continuing the Trafalgar and Nelson theme, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography features an article on the battle, the captains that participated, as well as the way that the event has entered the national culture, written by Michael Duffy.
200 YEARS AGO
The siege of Tarifa
Late December saw the Andalusian campaign rumble on as Maréchal Soult's army experienced another reversal. Having marched on Tarifa, a fortress held by British and Spanish troops in Andalusia, and begun the siege on 20 December 1811, the French forces commanded by Maréchal Victor found their activities undermined by terrible weather conditions. Despite breaching the wall early on, a downpour destroyed the French camp and prevented them from taking advantage of the large hole they had created. Attempts to recover from this setback were further hindered by torrential rain, and with the French besieging camps cut off from one another and isolated from any possible reinforcements, on the night of 4/5 January, Victor lifted the siege.
Méhul retires from public life...
On 17 December 1811, far away from the highs and lows of his Spanish campaign, Napoleon attended the Paris Opera in the company of his wife, Marie-Louise. That night, they watched the premiere of Etienne Méhul's Les Amazones (which featured a libretto by Victor-Joseph Etienne de Jouy and starred Nourrit and Madame Branchu, who sang at Napoleon's coronation in 1804). The imperial couple's attendance was to be expected: Méhul's opera of reconciliation symbolised France's new-found peace with Austria, enshrined by Napoleon's marriage with the archduchess and the birth of the Roi de Rome. Yet despite the feel-good theme and imperial support, the opera was a complete failure, the fault - if the press at the time is to be believed - of an extremely poor libretto which failed to live up to the music. The opera's negative reception - coupled with failing health - drove Méhul to retire to Pantin (today a suburb of Paris).
The BNF's digital library Gallica features the opera's libretto (external link in French).
150 YEARS AGO
The Trent Affair: war averted
Uncertainty reigned across the UK, France and the United States as the Trent affair (see bulletin n°s 605 and 606) dragged on. President Lincoln's government faced the very real possibility of fighting two separate wars, one against an Anglo-French force and another with the Southern Confederate states. A British invasion of the American states along the Canadian border, starting with Maine, was even mooted, and troops were dispatched across the Atlantic. Britain's official response reached the Viscount Lyons, ambassador to the US, on 19 December, and was presented to Lincoln's cabinet on 23 December. On 25 December, during an extraordinary cabinet meeting called by Lincoln, the French response arrived, declaring Napoleon III's unambiguous condemnation of the arrest. By this time, Lincoln had already begun preparing the ground for the release of the Confederate diplomats, although independent arbitration of the episode was also discussed as a means of saving face for Lincoln and the USA. However, the USA's lack of finance and ongoing war with the southern states, coupled with the British naval superiority, meant that war with Britain could not seriously be countenanced. On 27 December, Lyons received the official response from US Secretary of State, William H. Seward. Wilkes' acts were disavowed, but only because he had not proceeded to a nearby port in order to have his contraband adjudicated, as required by international law. No apology was offered. Nevertheless, the response ensured the release of the Confederate diplomats, who on 1 January 1862 boarded a ship for England and continued on their original mission, begun nearly two months previously.
New Year gifts
As Christmas day came and went, the bumper edition of the Moniteur Universel for 26 and 27 December 1861 reported on the preparations underway to feed the French public's enthusiasm for étrennes - new year gifts.
"The installation of [many] boutiques selling New Year gifts began on Christmas Eve, on the main streets of the capital. Rarely has such favourable weather announced the arrival of these stall salesmen of all kinds who appear each year, in time for New Year, and clamour for the Parisian public's attention. Yesterday, until one o'clock in the morning, there was great activity in the different districts of the city, most notably on the boulevards, where a double line of temporary boutiques - set apart from the sumptuous [permanent] stores [that line the avenues] - stretch almost without interruption from Place de la Madeleine to the Bastille."
The newsletter will return on 6 January 2012.
Wishing you all an excellent "Napoleonic" festive break and New Year,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 608, 16 DECEMBER 2011 - 5 JANUARY 2012
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation?
© 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
Press review
- British Library launches online newspaper collection
- HMS Victory to be restored
- ODNB: The story of Grace Horsley Darling, a Northumbrian hero
- The Independent: report on planned airport for St Helena
- The Thomas Picton torture case: BBC and American Historical Review articles
- BBC: "Headlines from 1811: Riots, cuts and a snake-eating cow"
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.
Festivals
- Twelfth Marie-Louise Week at the Museo Glauco Lombardi, Parma, Italy [10/12/2011 - 18/12/2011]
Full details
- Christmas at the Napoleonmuseum, Salenstein, Switzerland [19/11/2011-21/12/2011]
Full details
Exhibitions finishing soon
- "Napoleone entra a New York. Chaim Koppelman e l'imperatore. Opere 1957-2007", Rome, Italy [14/10/2011-08/01/2012]
Full details
- "Destins souverains. Joséphine, la Suède et la Russie", Reuil-Malmaison, France [24/09/2011 - 09/01/2012]
Full details
- "Destins souverains: Napoléon Ier, le Tsar et le Roi de Suède", Compiègne, France [24/09/2011 - 09/01/2012]
Full details
- "David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre", New York, USA [23/09/2011 - 31/12/2011]
Full details
- "Of Elephants and Roses: Encounters with French Natural History, 1790–1830", Philadelphia, USA [25/03/2011 - 31/12/2011]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The library is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 1pm and 6pm and on Thursday between 10am and 3pm, and will be closed from 26 December to 30 December. It will reopen as per normal opening times on 2 January 2012.
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