To return to the site, www.napoleon.org, please click here.   Bulletin - Bulletin                    EDITORIAL > LOST AND FOUND There has been much excitement this week, as well as sadness, relating to objects closely related to the history of the Empires. Last Saturday 28 February at a presentation in Lucca, Italy, marking the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's escape from Elba, we learnt about a rare surviving neckerchief which had been left behind on the island by Napoleon Bonaparte, under a cushion in his room, 200 years ago, almost to the day. The fine linen accessory, monogrammed with an embroidered “N” and the imperial crown, was found by a servant and preserved in the family, before later passing to the Bettarini family and then its  direct heir, the Castellani family. It is one of only two surviving identical neckerchiefs, the other preserved at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris. Only the following day, Sunday 1 March, the Chateau de Fontainebleau, in a dramatic dawn raid, that appeared to have been very carefully organised, suffered the theft of fifteen “priceless” objects that formed part of the “Chinese museum” created by the Empress Eugénie, wife of Emperor Napoleon III, in 1863, and which were, according to the director, Jean-Francois Hebert, “… among the most beautiful pieces in the museum,”. This dramatic burglary from a French National Museum comes less than a year after the theft of ten precious Napoleonic objects from The Briars Historic Homestead in Victoria (Australia). These events, each go to show not only the material value of Napoleonic artefacts still today, but they are also part of the wider picture which is, let us not forget, the overall richness of the Napoleonic heritage that is still very much “alive” today and is still being continually enriched. We hope you enjoy what we have to offer this week in the napoleon.org newsletter. Rebecca Young  Web Editor Napoleon.org   BICENTENNIAL NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA > OFFICIAL LOGO UNVEILED Tuesday March 3, Michel Dancoisne Martineau, Consul of France and Director of Domaines Nationaux de Sainte-Hélène, launched, in partnership with the Government of St. Helena and the Fondation Napoléon, the logo of the "Bicentennial Napoleon at St. Helena" commemorating Napoleon's stay on the island of Saint Helena from 1815 to 1821. It will be used until 2021.         BOOK OF THE MONTH > ALBERTO CAVANNA: L'ULTIMO VIAGGIO DELL' IMPERATORE NAPOLEONE TRA WATERLOO E SANT'ELENA What happened in those extraordinary moments between Waterloo and Saint Helena? How did Napoleon end up confined on a tiny British island at the world's edge? Alberto Cavanna's book gives a reconstruction of the days between the 18 June and 15 August. This is the first detailed account in Italian of this remarkable moment in the phenomenal career of the Emperor Napoleon I.   The French book of the month is Paris, ville ouvrière. Une histoire occultée 1789-1848 by Maurizio Gribaudi.        DISCOVERY OF A NECKERCHIEF LEFT BEHIND AT ELBA BY NAPOLEON 200 YEARS AGO It is very rare today to find yet unknown objects that belonged to Napoleon, but last weekend guests who met at the State Archive in Lucca to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Napoleon's flight from Elba were given a surprise presentation of a rare “neckerchief” that was found in his room by a servant shortly after Napoleon's escape from the island and not seen in public for 200 years. Napoleon probably owned and wore hundreds of these beautifully embroidered neckerchiefs during his lifetime, as documentary evidence shows us. However today only two identical ones are known still to exist. Find out more in our special article.        ONLINE EXHIBITION > NAPOLEON'S LAST STAND: 100 DAYS IN 100 OBJECTS  A fascinating online exhibition launched by the University of Warwick on 23 February is retracing, day by day, Napoleon's return from Elba and defeat at Waterloo by releasing one object for each day of the period known as the ‘100 Days'. The exhibits, selected by an international array of Napoleonic scholars and museums, put the Battle of Waterloo into context, with several objects coming from private collections and archives not open to the public. Today's object (6 March) is a print belonging to Eton College representing a German reaction to Napoleon's escape from Elba.        PERFORMING NAPOLEON > MUSIC AND TOY THEATRE AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM Whether adored or despised, Napoleon was an inspiration to a whole generation of writers, composers and artists. If you're in London this evening, why not drop into the British Museum, where an evening of Song and Satire relating to Napoleon will be animating the exhibition rooms of Bonaparte and the British. Next weekend William West's Regency toy theatre plays, The Battle of Waterloo (1824) and Bonaparte's Invasion of Russia (1825), will also be performed, for the first time since West's death in 1854.        BURGLARY AT CHATEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU Earlier this week, in a dawn raid on the Château de Fontainebleau (external link with photos), one of the residences of Napoleon I and III (as well as of French monarchs from Louis XII), 15 artworks were stolen, from the “Chinese Museum” created by Empress Eugenie in 1863. Many of the objects were official gifts to Napoleon III, such as the priceless replica of the crown of the King of Siam (now Thailand), one of many gifts from King Rama IV, presented by his ambassadors on their official visit in 1861. This part of the Chateau will remain closed to visitors until further notice. THE FRANCO-BRITISH EXPEDITION OF 1860 March 8, 1860, France and Britain sent an ultimatum to the Chinese emperor demanding apology and financial compensation for the attack on French vessels. The two European powers also asked for a guarantee of safe passage for the French in China and the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, 1858, which had been perceived as a humiliation by the Chinese. The refusal of the Asian sovereign to comply was the starting gun for the beginning of the expedition in China. 200 YEARS AGO > STAND-OFF AT CORPS AND THE ALLIES' REACTION TO NAPOLEON'S ESCAPE Having left Gap on 5 March (cf. previous bulletin), Napoleon continued to Grenoble, aiming to reach Corps the next day. There, he discovered that his advanced guard had not clashed with the royalist troops at La Mure, so he joined them on 7 March at Laffrey, at the site later called the ‘Prairie de la Rencontre' (‘Field of the meeting'). Despite the fact that Lessart had ordered the troops of Louis XVIII to fire, Napoleon went up to them, declaiming ‘Soldiers of the 5ème de Ligne, I am your Emperor – you can see for yourselves! If one amongst you wishes to kill his Emperor, then here I am!' Won over, the soldiers abandoned the royalist ranks to join Napoleon en route to Grenoble. The major allied powers and the royalist delegation at the Congress of Vienna had only just heard the previous night, 6 March, about Napoleon's departure from Elba. Their morning and evening meetings on 7 March came to nothing; only a notional union against Napoleon (whom they believed to be en route to Italy) was declared. When it was announced that Napoleon had fled, they took the precautionary measure of confining Marie-Louise and the King of Rome in Vienna… 150 YEARS AGO > DEATH OF THE DUC DE MORNY  10 March is the anniversary of the death of the duc de Morny, Napoleon III's half-brother. Propelled to wealth and prestige through connections and the funds of his mistress, Fanny Le Hon, Morny was a key figure of government, both before and during the Second Empire, a political careerist and a captain of industry, particularly in the mining, sugar and railway industries. Read more about his life and career here.       Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!   Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young (with Syamala Roberts) THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 749,  6 - 12 MARCH, 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 6/3/15) -   WATERLOO SEEN ON THE WEB (updated 6/3/15) WATERLOO READING LIST (updated 6/3/15) 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 David Crane's "Went the Day Well?"  by Guy Keleny in The Independent - Review of "Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek war, and the battle of New Orleans" by Tom Kanon JUST PUBLISHED - The battle of Waterloo, a series of accounts by a near observer, facsimile, London 2015 (first published 1815). - JAMES, Leighton S., Witnessing the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in German Central Europe.War, Culture and Society, 1750-1850 (London, 2013). WHAT'S ON    Talks - The War of 1812 in the South: Causes and Consequences talk by Dr. Tom Kanon, Florence, AL [08/03/2015] - Wellington: the Waterloo Years, lecture by Robert Evans at The Fan Museum, Greenwich [09/03/2015] - Battle of Waterloo 1815, talk by Graeme Cooper, Tower of London [11/03/2015] - The Red Stick War, talk by Dr. Kathryn Holland Braund, Florence, AL [22/03/2015] - British admirers of Napoleon, talk by Sheila O'Connell, British Museum [24/03/2015] - Decorative arts in the time of Napoleon and Wellington, talk by Hilary Williams, British Museum [27/03/2015]  - Living Memories, Andrew and Rachel Jackson impersonators, Dave McArdle and Melinda Gaines, Florence, AL  [29/03/2015] - Wellington and the French: a family view lecture by Lady Jane Wellesley, Britsh Museum [30/04/2015] - Napoleon the Great, lecture by Andrew Roberts, Britsh Museum  [19/06/2015]  Conferences - International Study Day, Waterloo, 7 mars 2015 "La Bataille de Waterloo : symbole de victoire, de défaite et lieu de mémoire" [07/03/2015] - Symposium in Lyon, France, 11-12 March, "Napoléon Bonaparte face à l'histoire"  [11/03/2015 - 12/03/2015] - Conference "L'année 1815", Paris [14/04/2015-15/04/2015] - Napoleonic Historical Society 2015 Annual Conference (Toronto) [28/08/2015 - 30/08/2015]   Theatre/Concerts  - Song and satire: an evening's balladry for Bonaparte and the British, British Museum [6 March] - Performing Napoleon: Regency toy theatre show, British Museum [13 March] Exhibitions - Waterloo: Life & Times” at the Fan Museum, Grenwich, London [27/01/2015 - 10/05/2015] - Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and Passions - Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery  12/03/2015 - 07/06/2015] - Wordsworth, War and Waterloo, at Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere, Cumbria  [16/03/2015 - 01/11/2015] - Bonaparte and the British: Exhibition at the British Museum [05/02/2015 - 16/08/2015] - Immaginare la nazione. Saperi e rappresentazioni del territorio a Torino, 1848-1911,  exhibition in Turin, Italy [19/12/2014 - 28/03/2015] - The Battle of New Orleans – The “Other” Battle of 1815, Exhibition at the John Hay Library, Providence [20/01/2015 - 28/03/2015] - Born for a storm: Andrew Jackson Exhibition (Nashville TN) [08/01/2015 - 28/12/2015] - 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, (Tennessee State Library) [06/01/2015 - 13/04/2015] - Coaching the Congress Along - Exhibition at the Carriage Museum, Vienna [18/09/2014 - 09/06/2015]   Commemorations - Le Retour de Napoléon (in Laffrey, France)  [06/03/2015 - 08/03/2015]   WATERLOO WHAT'S ON (updated 6/3/15) SEEN ON THE WEB (all external links) - Thieves swipe 'priceless' Asian artworks from France's Fontainebleau palace - Artworks Looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace Stolen in French Art Heist - Route Napoleon celebrates Bicentenary - 200 years on: Alpes Maritimes celebrates Napoleon's landing - Napoleon returns to southern France, 200 years on - The Philly dentist who helped fix Napoleon III's bad tooth (podcast) - What did Napoleon like to read?    WAR OF 1812 (external links) - Native American exhibit of battle open - How the War of 1812 Eroded U.S. Liberalism - War of 1812 children's book “The Powder Monkey” will come to life on Sackets Harbor stage (13 March) - Mystery solved of two American seamen's bodies washed ashore from to Ohio from War of 1812: My Ohio (video) "WATERLOO" SEEN ON THE WEB (link to our website, updated 6/3/15) THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY The library is normally 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.