To return to the site, www.napoleon.org, please click here.   Bulletin - Bulletin                    EDITO This week's letter is redolent of the power of the legend. A young deposed prince dying in a distant land, oddly frequently touched by the Napoleon story, namely South Africa, serves as the lynchpin for commemoration, history, and community action. The ‘Route Napoléon' from Golfe-Juan to Grenobles and beyond is a symbol also of the power of the ‘idea of Napoleon', as romance and exhilaration brought Napoleon “on eagle's wings” back to the Tuileries. A conference in the bicentenary period, in Lyons in March, will explore that power, where emotion went further than words, carrying power politics and international relations before it. And our object of the month is the very symbol of the power of the gift to bring with it the myth, from Napoleon to Lannes, from Albert II to “Masséna V”, and from the Fondation Napoléon to the viewing public in September this year. Imagination does indeed rule the world. Peter Hicks Historian and Head of International Relations, Fondation Napoléon        OBJECT OF THE MONTH >  PORTABLE WRITING CASE GIVEN TO MARSHAL LANNES BY NAPOLEON This finely-crafted portable campaign writing case, distant ancestor of today's electronic tablet, was given to Marshal Lannes by Napoleon Bonaparte himself. It is still in exceptional condition despite evidently having been used and still contains the original ink well. It was recently given to the Fondation Napoleon by the Prince of Monaco.        LAST CALL FOR PAPERS > POPULAR REACTIONS AND STATE RESPONSES TO THE 100 DAYS Warwick University is organizing a Conference on "Popular Reactions and State Responses to the 100 Days", in July 2015. If you'd like to submit a paper (external link) January 31 is the LAST CHANCE to send a proposal.   CONSORTIUM ON THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA The Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850 provides the annual venue for the presentation of original research on the history of Europe, the United States, Latin America, the Atlantic World and beyond during the Age of Revolution. This year it will take place at High Point University, North Carolina, from 19-21 February.        WHO WAS THE PRINCE IMPERIAL? As we mentioned last week several events are being organised to commemorate La Route du Prince Impérial, Louis Napoléon, in South Africa in May. In our exclusive interview, Glenn Flanagan explained how she became interested in the French Prince who found himself on South African soil and tragically would meet his death there. If you'd like to find out more about Napoleon III's son and heir, have a look at some of the links on our website. There's also an interview with Jean-Claude Lachnitt, secretary of the Fondation Napoléon's Grands Prix jury and author of an authoritative book on the Prince Impérial. - A CLOSE-UP ON: THE PRINCE IMPERIAL - THE PRINCE IMPERIAL AND HIS DOG NÉRO(sculpture by Carpeaux) - TROMBINOSCOPE: VELOCIPEDE IV (THE PRINCE IMPERIAL)          WATERLOO 1815: A BICENTENNIAL EXHIBITION AT THE HAY EXHIBITION GALLERY This exhibition, drawn from The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, visualizes the history of the momentous events of Waterloo. It covers the major actors, precursory battles, public reactions, tourism and commemorations, as well as the details of the battle itself and its grim aftermath. The items on display range from texts and images that are contemporary with the battle to those created as retrospectives.   DIGITAL > NAPOLEON'S LETTERS TO MARIE-LOUISE We are delighted to announce that Napoleon's 318 hand-written letters to Marie-Louise written between 1810 and 1814 are now available on the website of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (external link). Those of you who are familiar with Napoleon's handwriting might notice how carefully he penned these letters to his new young wife.   NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE > THE USE OF WAR DOGS DURING THE HAITIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE The use of dogs in the Leclerc-Rochambeau expedition to Haiti (1802-1803), is often commented on. But were they an efficient weapon of terror both physical and psychological against the Haitian  rebels? You can find out more in this scholarly article by Philippe R. Girard (external link).        ONLINE This week a new online exhibition of objects related to Waterloo was launched, “200 objects of Waterloo”. New items will be added each week until June 2015. (external link), and from February another virtual exhibition, “The Last Stand: Napoleon's 100 Days in 100 Objects” (external link) will be launched by Warwick University, so stay tuned …    200 YEARS AGO > SHOULD MURAT BE DEPOSED? At the beginning of 1815, this was the burning question for certain of the allies, once they had heard that letters had passed between the sovereign of Elba and the King of Naples, the former's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat (see Bulletin 740). One year after the armistice signed with Austria and later Britain, Murat was no longer so firmly fixed in his antagonism to Napoleon (see Bulletin 696). In order to help them make up their minds, Talleyrand had kindly provided these allies with documents he had forged ‘proving' that Napoleon and Murat were in cahoots. According to an entry in the diary of the attaché to the Swiss delegation at Vienna, Gabriel Eynard, a secret meeting of the allies had been held on 9 February 1815, in order to dethrone the latter and kidnap the former…  150 YEARS AGO > PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES 31 January 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (conditional prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude) passed narrowly in the House of Representatives. The fractious issue of slavery had been at the origin of the devastating American Civil war, after the Southern slave states individually declared their Secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America, known as the "Confederacy" or the "South". Despite the fact that France had abolished slavery both in France and in its colonies in 1848, a number of Creole businessmen from Louisiana were to lobby Napoleon III in Paris between 1861 and 1865, trying to persuade the French, in vain to ally with the Confederacy. In particular three famous Creoles living in Paris, Paul Pequet du Bellet, Dr Alfred Mercier, and Dr Charles Delèry would publish pamphlets, with arguments which tried to appeal to the French sense of “Empire” and the common “Latin” heritage between France and the ”South”. Napoleon III's presence in Mexico gave them hope of such an alliance. Presenting the danger of the “Yankee” Anglo-Saxon North overtaking the Southern territories, they would also point out the necessity of the slaves for the cotton trade in which France still had interests. Also, in order to minimise the “Northern” propaganda in the French press, another strategy would be used notably the distribution of bribes to influential personalities. Edwin de Leon spent more than 25,000 dollars to obtain a few pro-South articles in the French press. However despite French concerns for the situation (See Bulletin 731), the Emperor would remain neutral in this dispute. Following the passing of the 13th Amendment, 27 out of the 36 states (including those which had been part of the Rebellion) would ratify the Amendment by the end of 1865. Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!   Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young    THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 744, 30 JANUARY - 5 FEBRUARY, 2015 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.          WATERLOO BICENTENARY 1815-2015 What's on this year relating to the Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo: commemorations, books, exhibitions, news ...  WATERLOO WHAT'S ON (updated 30/01/15)   WATERLOO SEEN ON THE WEB (updated 30/01/15) ALWAYS AVAILABLE Problems with a link in this letter? - Check the homepage on: http://www.napoleon.org/en/home.asp - View back numbers of the bulletin: http://www.napoleon.org/en/space/information_bulletin/archive_lettre.asp- Contact us: information@napoleon.org      Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter! napoleon.org - related content:   PRESS REVIEW - Review of Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Early American Republic, 1783-1812: A Political, Social, and Military History on history.ac.uk WHAT'S ON - Waterloo 1815: A Bicentennial Exhibition at the Hay Exhibition Gallery [16/02/2015 - 25/05/2015] - Napoleon's Era Told Through His Medals at the Liechtensteinisches Landes Museum, Vaduz  [19/02/2015 - 28/06/2015] - HMS Victory: The Untold Story is at Historic Dockyard Chatham [14/02/2015 - 31/05/2015]  - "From Dirty Shirts to Bucaneers: The Battle of New Orleans in American Culture" Louisiana State Museum [11/01/2015 - 31/12/2015] - "Answering the Call: Tennesseans in the Battle of New Orleans" [06/01/2015 - 13/04/2015] - Bicentenary of Napoleon's Presence on the Island of Elba [11/04/2014 - 26/02/2015] - "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] - “Cairo to Constantinople: Early Photographs of the Middle East” [07/11/2014 - 22/02/2015]   SEEN ON THE WEB   - HMS Victory is 'slowly rotting away from the inside' BBC video - The Collection of the Prince's palace of Monaco (auction) - Bullet which killed Nelson is among the treasures going on display at Chatham Historic Dockyard to mark the 250th anniversary of the launch of the world's oldest commissioned and most famous warship, HS Victory - Art Notes: Caricature Has Always Meant to Provoke, and Been Targeted for It   WAR OF 1812 -Born for a storm: Andrew Jackson Exhibition - War of 1812 battle re-enactment planned for 7th February - The remarkable year of 1815: War of 1812's end and the U.S. Mint - Living history' brings visitors back to 1815 at Battle of New Orleans 200th - Personal objects belonging to War of 1812 Hero Commodore Joshua Barney have been gifted to the Maryland Historical Society 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  ACCOUNT DETAILS To change your email address, unsubscribe, and sign up for the French information bulletin.