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EDITORIAL > THE PARADOX OF WATERLOO
In this week's letter, we have decided not to talk about the debate over the two-euro coin commemorating the Battle of Waterloo. There has already been way too much energy expended in the media on this topic. The fact is, that “storm in a teacup” is more related to political infighting than to historical commemoration. Fortunately the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo offers more fertile opportunities: for exchange and collaboration.
The Fondation Napoléon is participating in these initiatives and our weekly newsletter also relays the wealth of exhibitions, study days, conferences and news that the Waterloo Bicentenary has inspired. One event which illustrates these international collaborations is a symposium at the Brussels campus of the Catholic University of Leuven 18-19 June that will address the transnational reception of Waterloo in the nineteenth century. Whilst the common language is English, the call for papers also allows the possibility for talks to be given in Dutch, German and French. The symposium's theme reminds us of the fact that Waterloo had an impact culturally and artistically, as we mentioned in last week's letter, inspiring both artists and writers across Europe. This week two exhibitions opened in Britain dedicated, respectively, to the writers Wordsworth and to the Brontë sisters in relation to war and Waterloo. And how can we forget the legacy of Waterloo in French literature: Victor Hugo (whose poem ‘L'expiation' is the inspiration for the opening ceremony of the Waterloo Bicentenary commemorations), Stendhal, Dumas, and indeed, the subject of our French article of the month, Chateaubriand? And whilst Chateaubriand published a pamphlet against the French emperor in 1814, taking him down a peg or two, he also recognised in his “Mémoires” how much he had been influenced by Napoleon: "My admiration for Bonaparte was great and sincere even as I was most fervently attacking him”. And it is this paradoxical love-hate that has endured for more than two centuries. Worth much more than a couple of euros, we reckon.
Marie de Bruchard
Web Editor for napoleon.org
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CALL FOR PAPERS > COLLOQUE: ‘A War of No Common Description'
It is still possible de submit a paper for the International Conference on The Transnational Reception of Waterloo in the 19th Century, 18-19 June 2015, which will take place at the KU Leuven campus, Brussels. The lingua franca of the conference will be English, but papers can be delivered in other languages. The deadline for sending a synopsis has been extended to 7 April.
BICENTENARY OF WATERLOO > SOUND AND LIGHT SHOW
To kick off the Waterloo commemorations a sound and light show will take place on Thursday, June 18 at 10.30 pm on the historic site of the Battle of Waterloo. Tickets for "INFERNO", directed by Luc Petit, are now available online. (NB. this event is separate from the official battle re-enactements which take place on 19 and 20 June).
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MUSIC > L'AIGLON: SON OF NAPOLEON
Saturday night at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal (external link) provides a rare opportunuity to hear Jacques Ibert and Arthur Honegger's opera in five acts, “l'Aiglon”. The libretto by Henri Cain is based on Edmond Rostand's play of the same name, premiered at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre in Paris in 1900, which recounts the fragile adolescent's search for identity. Co-written by Arthur Honegger, who also wrote the score for Abel Gance's 1927 film "Napoléon", this performance will be preceded by a discussion at 6.45pm with notable Napoleonic specialists. Despite being a success at its premiere in 1937, the opera has rarely been performed or recorded since. (Sung in French with subtitles in French and English)
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DIGITAL BIBLIOGRAPHY GALLICA > WATERLOO
The Fondation Napoleon, in partnership with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, has a new online bibliography on the theme of Waterloo, bringing together battle maps, contemporary accounts, official historical records, literature, engravings, caricatures… all accessible online as part of the Gallica resource. (Link to illustration: “Boney in a stew”).
NEWS OF A PREVIOUS FONDATION NAPOLÉON SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Sophie Galofaro Darmagnac received one of the Fondation Napoléon's study grants in 2003 for her research on the Spanish War of Independence and graduated in 2008 from the University of Aix-en-Provence. We are delighted to learn that on 18 February this year the Spanish translation of her thesis was awarded the XXX PREMIO prize from the Investigación Historica. The Spanish translation (by Javier Cañada) will be published in December 2015. The official book launch will take place in Saragosse in January 2016. To apply for a Fondation Napoléon study grant, have a look at the conditions of application on our website.
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ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF JOACHIM MURAT
25 mars 1767 Joachim Murat, son of a humble innkeeper, joined the ranks of Napoleon's army first as a cavalryman, eventually becoming governor of Paris and finally King of Naples. You can read a biography of him here. There is also a museum dedicated to him, the Musée Murat, at Labastide-Murat, in the Département of the Lot, in France, which is open to visitors from 15 July to 15 September.
The regular history paragraphs "200 YEARS AGO" and "150 YEARS AGO" will be suspended for a few weeks. But don't worry, they'll be back soon!
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young (with Syamala Roberts)
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 751, 20 - 26 MARCH, 2015
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© 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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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 20/3/15)
WATERLOO SEEN ON THE WEB (updated 20/3/15)
WATERLOO READING LIST (updated 20/3/15)
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napoleon.org - related content:
PRESS REVIEW
- Six reviews of Daisy Hay's "Mr. & Mrs. Disraeli: A Strange Romance"
JUST PUBLISHED
- HAY, Daisy: "Mr. & Mrs. Disraeli: A Strange Romance" (London, 2015)
WHAT'S ON (see our website for all events)
Talks
- "The Red Stick War", talk by Dr. Kathryn Holland Braund, Florence, AL (USA)[22/03/2015]
- "British admirers of Napoleon", talk by Sheila O'Connell, British Museum (UK)[24/03/2015]
- A lecture by Michael Crumplin: "The Blood Fields of Waterloo". National Army Museum (UK) (external link) [26/03/2015]
- "Decorative arts in the time of Napoleon and Wellington", talk by Hilary Williams, British Museum (UK) [27/03/2015]
Conferences
- Sixth Wellington Congress 2015 - University of Southampton, UK. [10/04/2015 - 12/04/2015]
- Waterloo 200 Conference at Sandhurst, UK [16/04/2015 - 17/04/2015]
- Conference "L'année 1815", Paris [14/04/2015 - 15/04/2015]
- Oswego International War of 1812 Symposium (New York) [17/04/2015 - 19/04/2015]
Study Days
- Waterloo 1815 Study Day at Higham Hall, Lake District, UK [27/03/2015 - 29/03/2015]
Exhibitions
- Napoléon et Paris, rêves d'une capitale: Exhibition at the Musée Carnavalet, Paris [08/04/2015 - 30/08/2015]
- Napoléon-Wellington: Destins Croisés: Exhibition at the Wellington Museum, Waterloo, Belgium
[21/03/2015 - 31/07/2015]
- Switzerland reshaped. From Napoleon to the Congress of Vienna, Exhibition at Musée National Suisse, Prangins, Switzerland [13/03/2015 - 13/09/2015]
- The Brontës, War and Waterloo [16/03/2015 - 03/01/2015]
- Modern Heroism: Printmaking and the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge UK [03/02/2015 - 28/06/2015]
- National Army Museum: Waterloo Lives: exhibitions around the UK [21/02/2015 - 28/11/2015]
- 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]
Commemorations
- Waterloo Day: Re-enactment drill of the Irish Redcoats - Dublin, Ireland[21/03/2015]
- Living History weekend honouring General Andrew Jackson and the victors of New Orleans - Natchez, Washington, Mississippi [24/04/2015 - 26/04/2015]
- Major Percy victory route (recreated by bike): The Ride of the Lions, Waterloo 200 [17/06/2015 - 20/06/2015]
WATERLOO WHAT'S ON (updated 20/3/15)
SEEN ON THE WEB (all external links)
- Waterlooville 200 is launched
- Saint Helena to get first tourist flights
- A replica of stolen Siamese crown replica takes centre stage in Thai artist's new installation in Paris
"WATERLOO" SEEN ON THE WEB (link to our website, updated 20/3/15)
WAR OF 1812 (external links)
- Brock statue embraces mythology
- The War of 1812 Dramatically Changed American People and Government
- Calling All Student Historians – Enter to Win Competition at War of 1812 Event
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
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