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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN N° 736, 21-27 NOVEMBER, 2014
EDITORIAL
Are you suffering from FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out? Well we have the answer for you. The Napoleon.org newsletter is just what the anxious Napoleonist needs to keep the pangs at bay… With our weekly fix of Napoleon-tinged content, culled from our contacts worldwide, you won't miss that French documentary on Hortense de Beauharnais (broadcast in the series “Secrets d'histoire”) or that guided tour to the Chateau de Versailles. Or at least the reason you missed it won't be geographical… And if it's more traditional content you crave, such as books, articles, information of all sort, if we're not telling you about it, then it's probably not worth knowing… In fact, we're like a modern Diogenes, wandering about with our searchlight on in broad daylight, indicating to you all the ‘real' napoleonica! [Hint: if that reference to Diogenes had you a) confused or b) reaching for 'Wikipedia', whoa! Just cast your eyes down a bit, all will be come clear, I promise you...] It's true that all this acute napoleoniphilia could get you a stiff neck, or you might get sore eyes from peering at your smart phone, tablet, computer etc… And indeed, an American study has just identified the specific aches and pains that intensive hand-held-device use can entail. But hey, let's throw caution to the winds. YOLO!!
Peter Hicks
Historian and International Affairs Manager (via Irene Delage)
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OBJECT OF THE MONTH > CLOCK: "DIOGENES LOOKING FOR A MAN"
At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, the "Expositions des produits de l'Industrie française" ("Exhibitions of the produce of French industry") played a key role in the relaunching of the French economy. The most sumptuous of these Expositions was that of 1806, held in the area between the Hôtel des Invalides and the river Seine. The bronzesmith Claude Galle (1759-1815) exhibited there several of his clocks, including this one, entitled Diogenes looking for a man. Read more here about this extraordinary object.
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TIS (ALMOST) THE SEASON > CHRISTMAS READING LIST 2014
With December fast approaching, 'tis (almost) the season to be jolly - so why not consult our 2014 Christmas Selection to see which Napoleonic books should be on your Christmas list this year? We've got biographies, military histories, novels, and works of general historical interest, so there should be something for everyone's stocking!
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NEWS > NAPOLEON'S HAT SELLS FOR 1.9 MILLION EUROS AT AUCTION
A major sale the other week at Fontainebleau saw one of Napoleon's bicorne hats sold for a whopping 1.9 million Euros. Although the Emperor is estimated to have worn some 120 such hats during his lifetime, the article sold is one of only 19 hats still in existence. Other items under the hammer included a diamond-encrusted sword, a (damaged) bronze flag eagle, clothes belonging to the Roi de Rome, and a piece from the Emperor's private dining service. You can read more about the auction here - but don't forget that you can view objects from the Fondation Napoléon's collection online too, such as our (undamaged!) standard eagle and nineteen pieces from the Emperor's dinner service! Plus the Fondation's own Pierre Branda is quoted in this article from the New York Times.
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WAR OF 1812 > CANADA UNVEILS NEW MONUMENT
Just as you thought the War of 1812 commemorations were winding down, Ottowa has unveiled a new monument to the conflict. In a ceremony to mark the bicentenary of the Battle of Malcolm's Mills (the last battle fought on Canadian soil), artist Adrienne Alison's new statue was unveiled on Parliament Hill. Featuring seven bronze figures, the monument faces Canada's National War Memorial. Soil samples from 10 battlefields and water from six bodies of water were poured at the base of a commemorative maple tree on the site to acknowledge the importance of the conflict's land and naval battles. Click the link above to find out more and watch a video of the artist discussing her work!
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KID'S CORNER > DISCOVER THE VENDOME COLUMN
In 2015, Paris's Vendôme Column will be on view again after almost a year obscured by scaffolding for extensive restoration work. Why not find out more about this amazing monument before the grand unveiling next year? This article on the column's turbulent history is part of our resources for our younger readers - you can find others over in our Kids' Corner!
200 YEARS AGO > A GREAT EQUESTRIAN DISPLAY IN VIENNA
On 23 November, 1814, one of the most dazzling spectacles of the Congress of Vienna took place. The Spanish Riding School in Vienna, now the oldest remaining institution of its kind, played host to the nobility and royalty of Europe. A great equestrian display was mounted in the imperial arena built between 1729 and 1735 (now known as the “winter arena”), and it was an unforgettable show. The spectator galleries were filled with foreign ambassadors on one side and dignitaries of the Austrian Empire on the other, while temporary grandstands had been erected for the occasion within the arena itself, where emperors, kings, princes and their kin were seated. Accompanied by exquisite orchestral music, twenty-four horsemen, dressed in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century garb, began performing an “historical” tournament, a court practice from the reign of Empress Maria Theresa. They were watched by twenty-four damsels, dressed in similar period costume, “ravishing delights even among such beauty”, as Auguste La Garde-Chambonas put it. The first part was the equestrian display was called The Game of Rings. In this, hoops were hung from effigies of Turkish heads (Turkey had been Austria's greatest enemy) fixed to pillars in the arena, and the horsemen had to attempt to catch them with a spear. Following this entertainment, there were games designed to reveal the knights' skill, including mock-swordfights and cavalry charges. Not even the fact that the Prince of Liechtenstein was knocked unconscious by a fall could dampen spirits, and the evening ended with the merriment of a masked ball. Between 1,000 and 1,200 people attended the first performance, which was repeated on 1 and 5 December that same year.
150 YEARS AGO > PUBLICATION OF JULES VERNE'S JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
Jules Verne's Voyage au centre de la terre (Journey to the Centre of the Earth) was published for the first time in Paris on 25 November, 1864. Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which was first translated into English in 1871, was the third in a sequence of fifty-four novels by Verne, known as his Voyages Extraordinaires (the Extraordinary Journeys). These works, which appeared between 1863 and 1905, were written, according to Verne's publisher Jules Hetzel, with the aim of “summarizing all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science, and of [producing] in an attractive and picturesque form […] a history of the universe.” Defying easy categorisation, they were intended to be both enjoyable and educational, and were praised by a wide range of Verne's contemporaries. The first novel in the series, Cinq semaines au ballon (Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen), was lauded in 1863 as “the most fascinating and useful of imaginary voyages.” In 1864, the novelist Georges Sand wrote to Hetzel that she adored Verne's work and would gladly receive more of his books “for my children and for myself”, while in the same year a review by geographer Vivien de Saint-Martin applauded Verne's “happy alliance” of science and fiction, “which highlights the informative side of the equation alongside the excitement of the adventures.” Not everyone greeted Verne's enormous success so positively, however. Emile Zola stated in 1881 that Verne's commercial triumph had “absolutely no importance” for the French literary canon: “alphabets and prayer books,” he sneered, “are also sold in great numbers.”
You can see Édouard Riou's illustrations from the first illustrated edition of Voyage au centre de la terre (1867) here.
Peter Hicks and Francesca Whitlum-Cooper (with Emma Simmons)
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No 736, 21-27 NOVEMBER, 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 that the international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena will accept donations until 31 December, 2014. 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.
PRESS REVIEW
- The Trafalgar Chronicle N°24, 2014
- Review of Jenny Uglow's In These Times: "A hugely ambitious account of the era of press-gangs, rumoured French invasion and 'Mad King George.'"
JUST PUBLISHED
- DAVIES, Helen M. Emile and Isaac Pereire: Bankers, Socialists and Sephardic Jews in nineteenth-century France (Manchester, 2014)
WHAT'S ON
- "Coaching the Congress Along" - Exhibition at the Carriage Museum, Vienna [18/09/2014 - 09/06/2015]
- "Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art [21/10/2014 - 01/02/2015]
- "Les Adieux à l'Impératrice" at Malmaison [05/11/2014 - 02/02/2015]
- French-language conference in Vienna: "Vienne 1814-1815, Un congrès des plaisirs" [27/11/2014 - 27/11/2014]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- “Miraculous” Battle of Waterloo crucifix found four years after it was stolen
- Lord Nelson love child letter for sale
- French Rout – the Russian connection
WAR OF 1812
- Civil War Trust expands preservation to battlefields from Revolutionary War and War of 1812
- What if the British had won the Battle of New Orleans?
- Fairfax County History Conference Focuses on the War of 1812
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