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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN n° 711, 25 APRIL-1 MAY, 2014
EDITORIAL
Here at napoleon.org, we're not afraid to say – or to write – that we're part of a winning team. Without your loyalty, napoleon.org would not be sailing towards its 18th birthday this September. Without your support (in some cases, your very active support), the project to publish Napoleon's complete correspondence, which began back in 2002, would not be making its way steadily towards completion. Without your generosity, the international appeal launched by the Fondation Napoléon, the Souvenir Napoléonien and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to save the Emperor's house on Saint Helena could not have achieved the great level of success, which we had scarcely dreamed of.
This week, then, we are giving you the chance to have your say about this community of which you are such an integral part. By filling out our questionnaire; we'd like you to tell us what you think about the site napoleon.org, about our weekly bulletin, and about the online services we offer.
We'd like to invite you, too, to join us in keeping your eyes peeled for the Napoleonic objects that were recently stolen from The Briars Historic Homestead, near Melbourne. Help us to spread the word and get these objects back where they belong.
Irène Delage, Head of Documentation
NAPOLEON.ORG QUESTIONNAIRE
We're thinking of improving your favourite Napoleonic website, napoleon.org, and we'd love to hear your opinions. The questionnaire's very short (just 13 questions), so please, give us some feedback!
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OBJECT OF THE MONTH > NAPOLEON'S CAMP BED
When he was on campaign, Napoleon's bivouac furniture had to be exceedingly practical: light, collapsible, and easy to carry. This portable iron bed was designed by Desouches, "serrurier du garde-meuble de S.M. l'Empereur et Roi" (wardobe locksmith to H.M. the Emperor and King), whose patented designs became rapidly popular with the Emperor and other high ranking officers. This camp bed was used by Napoleon throughout all his campaigns, and it was in a bed like this that he died on 5 May, 1821, on the island of St Helena. Discover more about Napoleon's campaign furniture in the exhibition “Le bivouac de Napoléon” at the Ajaccio Museum of Fine Arts until 12 May.
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A NAPOLEONIC CONCERT IN LUCCA!
As part of the commemoration of the bicentenary of Napoleon's arrival on the island of Elba, the choir of the Anglican church of St George's, Paris (conducted by Peter Hicks, manager of international relations at the Fondation Napoléon) will be giving a concert of music related to, inspired by and liked by Napoleon in the Archivio di Stato of the city of Lucca on Friday 2 May at 4pm. We hope to see you there!
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COMMEMORATIONS FOR 5 MAY
On Monday 5 May at 6.30pm, a mass will be celebrated in the Cathédrale Saint-Louis at the Hôtel des Invalides to commemorate Napoleon I and the fallen soldiers of his Grand Army. The mass will be led by Monseigneur Luc Ravel, Bishop to the French Armed Forces, in the presence of His Imperial Highness the Prince Napoléon and General Bruno Cuche, Governor of Invalides.
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NAPOLEONIC HAPPENINGS...
“BONAPARTE EN EGYPTE”, SPECIAL SCREENING 30 APRIL
As part of our Cercle d'Etudes, the Fondation Napoléon is hosting a special advance screening of Ghislain Vidal's new docu-drama “Bonaparte en Egypte” at 5.30pm on 30 April. Spaces are extremely limited, so get in touch to save your place! Reservations open on Friday 25th April, and you can find more information about the film and how to reserve a Cercle d'Etudes event here.
THE NAPOLEONIC DIGITAL LIBRARY > NORWOOD YOUNG
Despite the fact that Norwood Young's work on Napoleon on Elba has been surpassed by Pierre Branda's recent publication, there is still much in his Napoleon in Exile: Elba that is worth reading on the centenary of its publication. Find it digitized here as part of The Napoleonic Digital Library.
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AND ACROSS THE POND…
FANTASTIC ONLINE EXHIBITION ABOUT THE WAR OF 1812
Discover the War of 1812 afresh with this fantastic new online exhibition from the Canadian War Museum. Presenting the war through four different perspectives – American, Canadian, British, and Native American – this beautifully illustrated site guides you through everything from basic facts and figures about the conflict, to its key figures on both sides, to its wider ramifications and legacy.
NIAGARA 1812 LEGACY COUNCIL EVENTS ANNOUNCED
Last week the Niagara 1812 Legacy Council announced their action-packed schedule of events. Throughout the summer, the War of 1812 will be commemorated and retold through re-enactments, performances, and community events in and around Niagara. Not to be missed if you're around the Great Lakes this summer!
ANNIVERSARIES:
30 April, 1803: the purchase of Louisiana by the US from France (full details in our 'Focus On' the Louisiana purchase here)
1 May, 1813: Death of Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Duke of Istria, at Weißenfels
200 YEARS AGO > THE DRAMATIC JOURNEY TO ELBA
Having said his final farewells at Fontainebleau on 20 April, 1814, Napoleon began his "mixed" journey to Elba. As the Emperor entered Provence, the mood of the crowds waiting for him changed from timid cries of “Vive l'Empereur!” (as heard in Montélimar on Sunday 24 April, for example), to violent shouts of “Vive le roi!” When the advance party of coaches escorting the Emperor arrived in Avignon that same Sunday, they drew a crowd of armed men out of the city, who started hurling abuse at the deposed Emperor. The convoy had to change horses at top speed to avoid them. Guillaume Peyrusse, the Emperor's treasurer who was accompanying him on his journey, related another unfortunate incident: on 25 April in Orgon, “in front of the inn itself, […] someone strung up a model representing His Majesty, in the green uniform of his Guard, with a bloody piece of paper on its chest. The local populace – both men and women – surrounded His Majesty's coach, clambered all over it, trying to see him and to hurl the greatest abuses at him. […] Once the horses had been harnessed, we set off at a gallop, and the fury of the people of Organ subsided with a few stones being thrown at His Majesty's carriage.” After this incident, two cavalry detachments of Austrian hussars were brought in to reinforce Napoleon's security detail. They were, however, to see no further action since from this point on, the journey to Elba would be less dramatic…
150 YEARS AGO > MEXICO, AUSTRALIA AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Between 25 April and 1 May 1864, every edition of Le Moniteur (the official newspaper of the French Empire) carried a story related to the ongoing project of French-driven regime change in Mexico. On 29 April readers were informed that the intervention was going well, with very few sick or injured soldiers. Other days reported on Mexican archaeological phenomena, and there were articles on import duties to be applied to goods arriving in the Mexican Empire. Further afield, the Moniteur (on 27 April) bore a piece about South Australia, and the 27th anniversary of its founding the previous December. The journalist noted, with an air of awe and astonishing precision, that the colony now contained 145,000 people, 56,251 horses, 3.4 million sheep, 416 churches, 1,655 kilometres of telegraph wire and 180 post offices. The speed of modern communications was clearly a timely matter, since it was from 1 May, 1864 that Le Moniteur began to publish an evening edition (Britain had had late editions since the mid-1850s). Advertisements that week promised that, although this evening edition would bring the news from the government to the people more speedily and frequently, their loyal morning edition would continue to carry all the latest news and full coverage of government happenings.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Francesca Whitlum-Cooper
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 710, 18-24 APRIL, 2014
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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EVENTS
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
WHAT'S ON
- Exhibition "Joséphine" at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris [12/03/2014 - 29/06/2014]
- François Gérard (1770-1837), Portraitist, at the Château de Fontainebleau [29/03/2014 - 30/06/2014]
- La Nuit aux Invalides 2014 [24/04/2014 - 24/05/2014]
- Guided Walks around Napoleon's Elba [21/04/2014 - 08/10/2014]
- Re-enactment in Hoogstraten, Belgium [01/05/2014 - 05/05/2014]
- 200th anniversary of the Principate of Canino - Lucien Bonaparte [29/03/2014 - 30/08/2014]
JUST PUBLISHED
- PELLEGRINI SUTCLIFFE, Marcela, Victorian Radicals and Italian Democrats, London: Royal Historical Society, 2014
- LUCAS, Mark, The Consequences of Honour: Bonaparte, Britain and the Peace of Amiens, Morrisville, NC: Lulu, 2013
PRESS REVIEW
- Multi-bestselling author Bernard Cornwell to write a factual history of the Battle of Waterloo
- Great review of "A Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography" at the Getty, Los Angeles
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Skeletal remains of Napoleon's army found in a garden in Hampshire
- Two identical Waterloo medals, awarded to two men born in the same town, with the same name, to go up for auction at same time
- A brief history of the Wellington boot!
WAR OF 1812
- Interesting article on the complexities of remembering the War of 1812
- TIME Magazine: The War No One Wants to Commemorate
- Two lectures given this week at the Quincy Historical Society
- Archaeological dig and events in Baltimore
- Alexandria, VA, commemorates the War of 1812
- Early uniforms and period dress to be displayed in Harrison County, Indiana
- Louisiana and the War of 1812 lecture
- Re-enactments and events at Sully, VA
- Sotterly Plantation's final War of 1812 Living History event
- Cruises, parades, re-enactment of the Battle of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
- Chesapeake Campaign commemorations to kick off on 6 June
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
The library is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1pm to 6pm and on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm. The library is closed on Wednesdays.
Online database catalogue
Digital Library
Contact
NAPOLEONICA LES ARCHIVES
Site of digitised Napoleonic archival material:
The working papers or 'imprimés' of the Napoleonic Conseil d'Etat, the correspondence of Vivant Denon, etc.
http://www.napoleonica.org
Contact: napoleonica@napoleon.org
NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
International peer-review interdisciplinary e-review on the history of the two Empires, bilingual French-English, 3 issues per year, free access.
Read the review on Cairn.info
Contact: napoleonicalarevue@napoleon.org
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