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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN n° 700, 7-13 FEBRUARY, 2014
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON AND THE FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY (BnF)
On 5 February, Thierry Lentz, director of the Fondation Napoléon (stepping in for the indisposed president of the Fondation Napoléon, Victor-André Masséna) welcomed Bruno Racine, the president of the French National Library (BnF) at the Fondation Napoléon, in the salle Gourgaud which bears the name of our founding president. The Baron Gourgaud himself would have been very honoured, as we all are, that the Fondation Napoléon has been chosen by the BnF to join the long list of its partnering institutions. Indeed, the two institutions have just signed a digital and documentary cooperative convention, a excellent and promising opportunity of combining the riches of our First and Second Empire holdings, together with our experience in the development of digital services. In a few weeks from now (just the time to iron out some final technicalities…), the Fondation Napoléon Digital Library will be accessible via the BnF digital portal, Gallica. And, as part of the convention, our digital library will also highlight the BnF Napoleonic collections via the creation of thematic bibliographies.
The convention of partnership, we are happy to report, also includes support from the BnF for recipients of the Fondation Napoléon annual study grants. From 2015, Fondation Napoléon research grant winners will receive a privileged access to the BnF…
We are delighted and honoured that the BnF has joined us on this and hope that this joint digital project will strongly contribute to the renewal of Napoleonic history studies.
Indeed, while we're on the subject of renewal, a major work has just been published on a crucial event in the history of the First Empire, namely, the fall of that empire two hundred years ago in April 1814. On the one hand, through the study of new documents, and on the other, via the re-reading of published documents and testimonies, Thierry Lentz clears away some of the dead wood surrounding this ‘legendary' episode in French history and highlights a few ‘truths' about these “twenty days at Fontainebleau”.
So let's take advantage of the bicentenary now in April 2014 (for which the town of Fontainebleau is preparing a memorable bicentenary for Napoleon's “Adieux de Fontainebleau” with talks, exhibitions, re-enactments, even smartphone applications) and retrace Napoleon's last, and many hold finest, military campaign. Enjoy!
An excellent Napoleonic week to all,
Irène Delage
Head of Documentation
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SIGNATURE OF A COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON AND THE FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY (BnF)
This digital and documentary cooperation agreement is a significant stepforward in the enhancement of the First and Second Napoleonic Empire collections of these two institutions, bringing with it, as it does, the possibility of talks, the interoperability of the two digital libraries, and special support for the recipients of the Fondation Napoléon study grants…
THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON LIBRARIES
The Bibliothèque Martial Lapeyre Library was created in 1987, and it comprises books from the Lapeyre collection and the Walewsky donation. It currently contains around 11,000 books, including many rare and precious items (notably, a Civil Code bearing Napoleon I's coat of arms, original editions of the Bulletins of the Grande Armée, and period Imperial Almanachs, to name but three), and it is constantly being added to. Furthermore, the online catalogue searches in the titles of 2,000 articles from specialized reviews, and as such enables users to make thematic bibliographical searches.
In accordance with its policy to preserve, and encourage interest in, Napoleonic heritage, the Fondation Napoléon decided in 2010 to digitise the books in its library. Today this digital collection comprises nearly 120 titles, and the stats show that there are more than 550 downloads every month. For the year 2013, the Digital Library was visited about 68,000 times. The digitisation process is an ongoing project run by Chantal Prévot, Fondation Napoléon librarian: new digitised books will be coming online at the beginning of March 2014.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON ST HELENA: SUSAN O'BEY TO LEAD ENTERPRISE ST HELENA
On 31 January, Susan O'Bey was appointed Deputy Chief Executive of ESH (Enterprise St Helena). In this role she heads a public/private entity which is in charge of the coordination of the development of the economy and tourism on the island in view of the opening of the airport in 2016. Susan was until now number two in the Government of St Helena. She is also the official representative of the Fondation Napoléon on St Helena (hence our delight at her appointment). We send her our warmest congratulations and wish her every success.
> For a recent update on the project "Save Napoleon I's Residence on St Helena", read Fondation Napoléon director Thierry Lentz's article (January 2014).
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BOOK OF THE MONTH > Thierry Lentz, Les vingt jours de Fontainebleau: 31 mars-20 avril 1814, Paris: Perrin, 2014
In his most recent, beautifully written book, Thierry Lentz investigates the complex circumstances of the end of the Empire, from 31 March to the capitulation of Paris, on 20 April, 1814, the day on which the fallen Emperor left for the island of Elba. His work of bringing to light new sources and critically re-reading old ones gives a completely new slant to a tale we all thought we knew.
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207 YEARS AGO > POLISH CAMPAIGN, EYLAU (8 February, 1807)
Commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Eylau and of the Polish Campaign by reading our Close-up on the Polish Campaign and Eylau (8 February, 1807)
200 YEARS AGO > FRENCH VICTORIES ON TWO FRONTS
> 8 February: The Battle on the Mincio, one of Viceroy Eugène's victories.
When Murat, King of Naples, during the month of January defected and joined the Allies, with the help of the Austrians (see Bulletin n° 696), the Italian Viceroy, Eugène, received orders from the Emperor to retreat towards the Alps (in order to escape being trapped between the Neapolitan and the Austrian troops) so as to be able to bring aid to Augereau in south-east France. This was the context in which the Viceroy had to establish a temporary defence line on the riverbanks of the Mincio (a river running north/south out of Lake Garda) with his Franco-Italian troops, then pursued by the Austrian General, the Count von Bellegarde. Bellegarde decided to cross the Mincio towards the west on 8 February at Borghetto, hoping to cut off the French who he thought would rush on the west bank of the Mincio heading for home. In fact, Eugène split his army in two, leaving a show at Borghetto and massing the main body of his troops on the eastern side of the river, but further south, near Mantua. He then cut up north and fell upon the unsuspecting Austrian troops on the plain of Roverbella. The battle was to end the next day, 9 February, with Bellegarde's men retreating, giving a temporary victory to Eugène.
> From 10 to 15 February: Victories of Champaubert, Montmirail and Vauchamps
As he was withdrawing towards Troyes after the unfortunate Battle of La Rothière, (see Bulletin n° 699), Napoleon was informed that his two enemies, Blücher and Schwarzenberg, were no longer fighting together, and that the Prussian was heading towards Paris. So the Emperor decided to concentrate all his forces on Sacken and Olsufiev's men that Blücher had detached to Meaux. On 10 February in Champaubert, Napoleon thus swept Olsufiev, and on 11 February, it was Sacken who was on the receiving end in Montmirail. On 14 February, in Vauchamp, Blücher attempted to retake the initiative, but the French army, then more numerous, were to win the day. Blücher was momentarily paralysed by the lack of supplies and the loss of nearly 20,000 men. Napoleon could now turn his attention to Schwartzenberg, whose forces had so far been held in check by Mortier.
150 YEARS AGO > ‘LATIN' AMERICA
Ever since his military action in Mexico, Napoleon III had nailed his interventionist colours to the mast in terms of Latin America (a French coined expression). This sphere of Latin influence, as opposed to the English-language (and Protestant) empire to the north of the same continent, was of special interest to the Catholic, Latin and French emperor. It should come as no surprise then that on Monday 8 February, 1864, the French-government organ, the Moniteur, reported in detail on Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II's speech (made on the 1st January) which reported on the breakdown in diplomatic relationships with Great-Britain, following an incident in the capital with British troops and the ship la Forte, and that Belgium's intervention to soothe the situation had not sufficed. Seen in the context of Franco-British worldwide rivalry, this could be read as good news…
Closer to home, the Moniteur (also on Monday 8 February) gave a pre-announcement of the route which the traditional “promenade du boeuf gras” (Fat Bull Procession) was to take in the capital on the religious festival of Candlemas (a sort of pre-Mardi Gras). The long and detailed itinerary was entirely available in the Moniteur, and reports and a description of the events was published on Wednesday 10 February. For more details about this religious and bourgeois tradition which expired on the fall of the Second Empire in 1870 and return of the French republic system, read Bulletins n° 335 and 543.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 700, 7-13 FEBRUARY, 2014
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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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