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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN n° 717, 6-12 JUNE, 2014
HERE COMES THE SUN
After a studious winter and spring (brushing up on the French Campaign, for example!), we at the Fondation Napoléon have resolutely turned our thoughts to summer, time of relaxation and repose. This week we offer you our Summer Reading List (our top Napoleonic picks for your suitcase, now that there's finally time to read them), as well as our tips for a Napoleonic summer holiday, and the second instalment in our series of summer sites, which this week takes us to the southwest of France. There's a beautiful Napoleonic summer ahead, and we hope your holiday snaps are as sweet and moving as our picture of the month, a photograph of the Prince Imperial riding his pony.
Irène Delage
Head of Documentation
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PICTURE OF THE MONTH > THE PRINCE IMPERIAL ON HIS PONY, POSING FOR A PHOTOGRAPHER
On 1 June 1879, the Prince Imperial, Louis Napoleon died of wounds sustained in combat during the Anglo-Zulu War (exiled in Britain since 1870, the twenty-three year old prince had been fighting under the British flag). To commemorate this anniversary, we've chosen a photograph of the Prince Imperial as our image of the month. We see the two- or three-year-old Prince here in happier times, posing for a photograph on his pony, with his father Napoleon III looking on from the right. Read more about this extraordinary photo-within-a-photo here, or check out our dossier on the Prince Imperial for more images and information about his life and death.
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NAPOLEONIC SUMMER READING LIST
It's coming up to that time of year again, so we've put together a selection of some of the best Napoleonic books we've come across this year. From biographies of battles to biographies of Bonapartes, sweeping historical novels to the secrets of the Emperor himself, there's something for everyone to enjoy this summer on the Fondation Napoléon's 2014 Summer Reading List...
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SUMMER SERIES > NAPOLEONIC SITES
This week's Napoleonic sites take us to the southwest of France, where Napoleon enthusiasts can find both the Musée Napoléon de la Pommerie and the Musée Murat in Labastide-Murat. Since 1999, the Musée Napoléon near Cendrieux has displayed 500 Napoleonic objects, including portraits of Napoleon and Josephine, the Prince Imperial's baptism cap and Napoleon's snuffbox. The Musée Murat is a treasure trove of memorabilia from the life of one of Napoleon's most celebrated generals, and both are well worth a visit if you find yourself in the region this summer.
TABLE FROM THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA > ON SHOW IN POTSDAM!
Between 12 May and 21 November, the table that Talleyrand brought back from the Congress of Vienna is on display at the Haus der brandenbergisch-preußischen Geschichte in Potsdam. Normally housed in the Château de Valençay, the table is being lent as part of the bicentenary commemorations of the Congress and its importance to Prussian history. Read more about the loan here (external links, in French)!
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NAPOLEONIC SUMMER HOLIDAYS
Already daydreaming about your summer holidays? If your vacation is taking you to France this year, why not enjoy some of the many Napoleonic events on offer across the country? We've put together this handy guide to all things Napoleonic, from exhibitions to re-enactments, horse and carriage rides to sound-and-light shows.
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DIGITAL LIBRARY > A NAPOLEONIC COLLECTION IN THE HEART OF LONDON
Our book of the month this month deals with the myriad ways in which Britain fought – socially, culturally and militarily – to keep Napoléon at bay. But what about his British sympathisers? John Sainsbury was one Napoleonic sympathiser who amassed a huge collection of memorabilia – “every thing worth notice in a portable form relating to Napoleon.” This week's offering from the Fondation Napoléon Digital Library is the first catalogue of this extraordinary collection, printed in London in 1834.
NAPOLEON III'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO MILAN
On 7 June 1859, a delegation handed over the keys of Milan to Napoleon III, and the French army entered triumphantly into the city. Our close-up on the battles of Magenta and Solferino, which also took place in June 1859, provides all kinds of key insights into Napoleon III's most successful military campaign.
200 YEARS AGO > LUCIEN BONAPARTE'S RETURN TO ROME
Having quarrelled for years with his brother the Emperor for refusing to renounce his second wife, Lucien Bonaparte had been banned from the Sénat (and was thus without salary) and from any mention in the list of Princes of the Imperial Family. In August 1810, he had tried, in vain, to flee to the United States, but had been stopped on his way to Sardinia by the British, who were afraid that he was colluding with his brother to conduct secret negotiations across the Atlantic. He was transferred to Malta, and from there to England, where he was interned at Thorngrove in Worcestershire. Napoleon's fall from grace liberated Lucien from this “exile”, and by 21 May 1814 he was on his way to Rome (he had spent his time in Britain working on an epic poem, Charlemagne, and studying astronomy). Pope Pius VII, who had himself just returned from captivity in France, had developed a friendship with Napoleon's brother more than ten years earlier, when he had supported the Concordat of 1801; he personally received Lucien the very day he arrived in Rome, 27 May. It was during this audience that Pius VII told Lucien of his decision to confer on him the highly coveted title of Roman prince. This news did not fail to irritate both the cardinals and French royalist circles. But Pius's benevolence was confirmed by a papal bull of 18 August 1814, which acknowledged “the loyal and sincere attachment that Lucien has always shown for the Holy See and [the Pontiff].” Thereafter Lucien sold off his properties in France and established himself definitively in Rome, where he and his wife kept a small court which proved to be a great success. However, the Hundred Days would bring new twists and turns to the tumultuous relationship between Napoleon and Lucien Bonaparte…
150 YEARS AGO > PENSIONS, HOLIDAYS, AND CHINA
Pension funds
On 6 June 1864, the Moniteur (official newspaper of the Second Empire) published a long report addressed to the Emperor about the progress of France's pension funds. Although the first pensions originated in Gotha (Germany) in the 1600s, they were few and far between. Louis XIV established pensions for French sailors in 1673, but it was Napoleon III, in a gesture of sweeping benevolence, who generalised the pension system in France (Britain notably hung on until the twentieth century to make such reforms!). The Moniteur's report stated that 302,036 pension contributions had been made in 1863, 37,642 more than in 1862, but that the average amount of money deposited had dropped, from 27.68 francs in 1862 to 21.67 francs in 1863. Although the report noted that this was the first time since 1856 that the pension funds had suffered a drop in total deposited value, it concluded that the system still demonstrated the Emperor's “constant solicitude for the well-being of all those whose work has contributed so powerfully to the wealth and prosperity of our nation.”
Summer holidays
The Moniteur wasn't totally devoted to serious subjects though: the 6 June edition also saw a large advertisement from LES GUIDES-JOANNE (France's answer to Thomas Cook!) listing their many railway timetables and guidebooks, for “Italy, the Orient, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Britain, France and Algeria.” It seems that, like us, the Second Empire had summer holidays on its mind – this week also saw numerous adverts for spas, hotels and watering holes in which to while away the summer…
The 1860 expedition to China
This week also marked the much-anticipated publication of a history of the 1860 British and French expedition to China (which we've covered in this dossier). One volume of text and a one volume atlas, this account – drawn from official documents – promised to unveil much about the “almost unknown Empire.”
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Francesca Whitlum-Cooper
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 717, 6-12 JUNE, 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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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]
- The War of 1812-14: People and Places at the RiverBrink Art Museum (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada) [22/03/2014 - 07/02/2015]
- "Josephine, her Passion for Birds and Flowers" - Exhibition at Malmaison [02/04/2014 - 30/06/2014]
- Guided Walks around Napoleon's Elba [21/04/2014 - 08/10/2014]
- "1814, la C(h)ampagne de Napoléon" - Exhibition in Troyes [16/05/2014 - 02/11/2014]
PRESS REVIEW
- "The Paris of Napoleon III was one big brothel - which is why the future Edward VII loved it"
JUST PUBLISHED
- KRAAK, Menno-Jan, Mapping Time: Illustrated by Minard's Map of Napoleon's Russian Campaign of 1812 (Redlands, California: Esri Press, 2014)
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Napoléon's Grand Armée... in orginal photographs!
- Battle of Quatre Bras to be re-enacted in Campbelltown, Australia
- BBC History Extra Podcast: Napoleon and Mussolini
- 237 years ago, Russian military leader and statesman Alexei Petrovich Yermolov born in Moscow
- Plans to be drawn up on future use for Osborne House
WAR OF 1812
- American sailing ships and battles of the War of 1812 - historian and novelist William H. White to speak on June 6
- “The Rockets' Red Glare, Connecticut and the War of 1812” in Mystic Seaport, June 12
- Wareham Summer Celebration, Massachusetts, June 13-15
- Smithsonian Channel to Celebrate 200th Anniversary of Star-Spangled Banner, 14 June
- Olean County historian cites War of 1812 history wealth in our backyard
- Digging Deep into Connecticut's Underground History
- Prince George's, Maryland, kicks off War of 1812 celebration
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.
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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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