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Operation St Helena: the table has landed...
'Operation St Helena' was marked this week by a newsworthy event. After a long journey by boat and road, thirty pieces of furniture from Longwood House have arrived in France, where they will be taken care of by a team of specialists as part of the restoration process. Amongst the historic pieces are a billiard table, Napoleon's globes, a dining table and console tables. We can't show you anything but the boxes that these treasures are kept in; like the in the Little Prince, you'll have to imagine what they contain until 28 May, when unpacking will start.
The restoration, to be followed by an exhibition running in 2016, probably at the Musée de l'Armée, was made possible thanks to the generosity of nearly 2,000 donors to Operation St Helena, initiated by the Domaines nationaux de St Hélène, the Fondation Napoléon, the French Foreign Ministry and the Souvenir Napoléonien. It's still possible to make a contribution online.
Sixty pieces of furniture related to Napoleon's exile remain on St Helena. They however are to be restored in situ on the island. The government of St Helena is making a substantial donation of £80,000 for this. As a result a French restoration specialist can go to the island to train young apprentices there.
We should congratulate Michel Dancoisne-Martineau, curator of the Domaines and the honorary French consul, who has been the lynchpin of all of the work, negotiations, transfers, journeys and a hundred other things beside.
Thierry Lentz, Director of the Fondation Napoléon
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Article of the Month
The Proclamation of Empire by the Sénat Conservateur, by Thierry Lentz
In honour of 18th May, tomorrow, this month's article is dedicated to the extraordinary day when the Consulate became an Empire. Contrary to a widely held belief, it was not the coronation (Sacre) of 2 December, 1804, which "created" the Napoleonic Empire but rather a Sénatus-consulte adopted by the Sénat during its meeting of 18 May, 1804.
Accompanying the commemorative article we also have a close-up on the proclamation of Empire on napoelon.org, including articles, timelines and bibliographies of key players. There are also over forty documents relating to the proclamation of Empire available to view online at napoleonica.org.
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What's On
L'Autre regard - Le Château de St Germain-en-Laye, l'architecte et les photographes, St Germain-en-Laye, France
'A different view' - the Château of St Germain-en-Laye, the architect and the photographer' is an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the second law of protection of historical monuments of 1913, this exhibition highlights the photographic legacy conserved in the archives of the château. The scenography of the exhibition lets the visitor discover the various stages of the restoration of the château, as well as revealing the development of photography during the Second Empire.
Photography flourished under the Second Empire, and this year has already seen an exhibition of the work of Gustave LeGray in Paris (France). There are lots of photographs from the period in our mini-dossiers on napoleon.org, including ones from Suez and of the Great Manoeuvres at the Chalons Camp.
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A Musical Interlude
The Duke of Wellington's piano has been returned to Apsley House in London (UK). The 240 year old instrument had been on loan to the Russell collection in Edinburgh. It was handmade by the piano maker Americus Backers in 1772. To celebrate its return to the house, there will be a concert entitled the Duke of Wellington's Music of the French Wars, in which the piano will play the starring role.
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200 Years Ago
Bautzen
20 - 21 May, 1813 marked Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Bautzen. The battle had gone according to Napoleon's designs: using small attacks and skirmishes along the defensive line, he had forced the Allies into a disorderly retreat southwards towards the Austrian border. However, the defeat of the Allies was not seen by Napoleon as an unmitigated victory. Rather, he was disappointed that he had only succeeded in pushing back the enemy forces rather than dividing their army or capturing their artillery.
150 Years Ago
The appearance of a 'loyal' opposition
On 22 May, 1863, a letter written by the Minister for the Interior, de Persigny, appeared in Le Moniteur. He had sent it to the prefect of the Seine department, concerning the upcoming municipal elections. It was a form of indictment against one of the candidates for election to the second ward of Paris, the historian and man of letters, Adolphe Thiers. Persigny was openly critical of Thiers: “If monsieur Thiers, in entering his candidacy, had paid homage to the grandeur of the new Empire, presenting himself for universal suffrage as a friend of our institutions, the government would gladly welcome his entry into public life.” He accused Thiers of wanting “the re-establishment of a regime that was fatal for France” and “which in eighteen years had produced nothing but powerlessness within and weakness without, which began with a riot, continued under the noise of riots and ended in a riot” [the minister was referring to the July Monarchy, ed.]. Via such public opposition, Persigny was in fact interfering in the elections, and his action was to expose disagreements within government itself on the subject of the liberalisation of the regime. Morny, who was a partisan and admirer of Thiers, confronted the Minister of the Interior in such a way that Napoleon III was obliged to intervene to stop the discord and affirm his desire to see the opposition represented in the elections. Thiers ended up being elected on 31 May with a comfortable majority in the second ward and thus became the first legally elected opponent of Napoleon III.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Andrew Miles
Historians and web editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0. 671, 17-23 MAY 2013
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 the prolongation of its 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
You can still donate online to the project via the Friends of the Fondation de France in the US here
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'NAPOLEON ET L'EUROPE' AT THE MUSEE DE L'ARMEE
- Visiting the exhibition? Buy your tickets online.
napoleon.org-related content:
- Painting of the Month, from the exhibition: Napoleon's Consecration or Coronation
- Interview with E. Robbe, Director of the Exhibition
- Object of the Month, from the exhibtion: Model of the column of the Grande Armée
- Publications from the exhibition: Napoléon et l'Europe Exhibition Catalogue
MAGAZINE
Just Published
- With Napoleon's Guard in Russia: The Memoirs of Major Vionnet, by Louis-Joseph Vionnet
- Outpost of Empire: The Napoleonic Occupation of Andalucia, 1810-1812, by Charles Esdaile
Seen on the web (external links)
- Wellington's Piano returned to Apsley House
- Prince Poniatowski commemorated in Poland
- A blog post about the Battle of Luetzen
Press Review
- Prisionero en libertad. Vivencia de un ingeniero militar deportado durante la Guerra de la Independencia, by Maria Zozaya
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
- L'Autre regard - Le Château de St Germain-en-Laye, l'architecte et les photographes
[Paris, France 18/05/2013 - 30/10/2013]
Concerts
- The Duke of Wellington's Music of the French Wars [London, UK 21/05/2013 ]
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
Napoleonica Archives is now online!
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDAT ION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The new library opening hours are:
Monday and Tuesday 1pm – 6pm and
Thursday to Friday 10am – 3pm.
Closed Wednesday.
Online catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
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