| |
| |
DEATH OF PROFESSOR ANDRZEJ NIEUWAZNY
We were shocked to learn this weekend of the death of Professor Andrzej Nieuwazny, of the University of Torun in Poland, aged 55. He was one of the best European historians of the Napoleonic period and had published, in Poland, France, and in the English-language world, a great number of books and articles. Being polyglot, he frequently took part in conferences in France - including those organised by the Fondation - and elsewhere, and he was invited on several occasions to teach in French universities. He received the Fondation Napoléon Grand Prix for a work in a language other than French in 2001 for his book «My z Napoleonem». We offer our sincere condolences to his wife and children.
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH > NAPOLEON III CONFRONTED WITH THE ECONOMIC CRISIS OF 1857-1858
"1857 was an important year for the Second Empire. It was the year of the first slump. Napoleon III did not remain inactive, however. By reviewing his projects in the light of the obstacles to those projects, he firstly came to the conclusion that an economic slowdown was likely. But he also came up with some ideas for overcoming it more or less completely. His projects are well-known..."
Our article of the month in French is le musée gallo-romain de Napoléon III au château de Compiègne by Nicolas Personne.
CERCLE D'ÉTUDES LECTURE SERIES AT THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON
Walter Vejdovsky will be giving a talk as part of our lecture series « Cent-Jours » called "La campagne de 1815 au travers des jeux de simulation historiques". It will take place on Tuesday 30 June at 6pm at the Fondation Napoléon in Paris. If you would like to attend don't forget to sign up from 17th June (more information here in French).
|
|
|
| |
THE WORLD OF NAPOLEONIC RE-ENACTMENTS > EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FOR NAPOLEON.ORG WITH FRANCK SAMSON.
As he prepares himself for one of his last appearances as “l'Empereur” next week at the Bicentennial re-enactment of the battle of Waterloo in Belgium, napoleon.org talked to Franck Samson about his ten-year “career” as Napoleon's double.
PODCAST > Franck Samson also makes an appearance in this BBC Radio 4 program “Vive L'Empereur” (28 minutes, external link) in which Max Cotton meets the re-enactors as they prepare for their biggest "battle" in the fields and villages south of Waterloo, and chats with Jean-Christophe Napoléon Bonaparte at a famous London railway station …
And in a recent article for the Independent (external link) Alan Larson, who is to play the Duke of Wellington at the upcoming re-enactment of the battle of Waterloo, talks about how he was given confidence to play the role by Joe Strummer of The Clash, and once nearly got killed at a re-enactment.
|
|
|
| |
WATERLOO > NEW EXHIBITIONS > BRITAIN
Two new exhibitions open this week, to coïncide with the Bicentenary of the battle of Waterloo: 'Waterloo and the March of Science' opens on Friday 18th June at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in Bath (UK) examines the impact of the Napoleonic Wars at a local level and questions how science and technology responded to the culmination of nearly two decades of war with France. And at Somerset House in London, war photographer Sam Faulkner takes a look at how we remember fallen soldiers from times before photography existed, in 'Unseen Waterloo: The Conflict Revisited' (12 June - 30 August).
TALK > "STENDHAL AND THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO"
Also at Somerset House on 18 June, there will be a talk "Stendhal and the battle of Waterloo" organised by the French Institute, the Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Great Britain to commemorate to Bicentenary focussing on the description of the battle given by the great French novelist Marie-Henri Beyle, also known as Stendhal.
|
|
|
| |
WATERLOO > BELGIUM > PUPPET THEATRE
The Théâtre Royal de Toone's traditional Brussels puppet theatre is putting on "Napoleon and Waterloo" written by Toone VII, a parody on the hero's history, ending in Waterloo after the fight for Corsican independence, meeting Josephine, the Directory, the Egyptian campaign, the Consulate, the Consecration, his marriage to Marie-Louise, and finally, the ultimate confrontation. (Performances are in french).
WATERLOO > BELGIUM > EXHIBITIONS
If you're in Belgium over the next few months, the town of Braine L'Alleud is paying homage to those men and women who cared for the soldiers wounded in the battle, with 'Braine-L'Alleud 1815: au chevet des blessés' (‘at the beside of the wounded', until 6 September) and in Brussels, from 17 June to 15 September, the Royal Library presents 'La beauté de la guerre. Waterloo 1815-2015' (‘The beauty of War') which takes a look at the aesthetics of representations of war, through a dialogue between well-known images of the battle Waterloo and contemporary artworks, as well as rarely-seen archive material.
|
|
|
| |
WATERLOO > RADIO
On BBC Radio 4 this week Andrew Roberts (winner of the Fondation Napoleon's Grand Prix for his biography of Napoleon Bonaparte) presents every lunchtime this week (15-19th June) a series looking at Napoleon – the Man and the Myths (5 x 15 minutes)(external link). Episodes one and two will feature audio from the Fondation Napoleon, and the episodes should be available to download after broadcast.
On 17th June Waterloo: The Ball at Brussels, a new play by Mike Walker based on historical fact, delves into the hearts and minds of the participants at the Duchess of Richmond's Ball just two days before the battle of Waterloo, including the Duke of Wellington and most of his officers, a vivid portrait of those about to embark on one of the most famous battles in history. (external link)
And this evening's "Any Questions?" on BBC Radio 4 comes from the Waterloo Festival, with guests including the 9th Duke of Wellington, Charles Wellesley (external link, also available to download after broadcast).
> TELEVISION
"Napoleon" is a three-episode documentary narrated by Andrew Roberts. The next episode will be on 17 June. You may also be able to watch the episodes at other times on BBC iplayer. (external link)
And Sean Bean will be giving his take on Waterloo from Sunday 14th June on History Channel, UK. (external link)
And for those who couldn't get tickets for the Waterloo Extravaganza next weekend Belgian TV is transmitting the Bicentenary commemorations live from Waterloo.
|
|
|
| |
WATERLOO AND IRELAND
A new feature-length docu-drama ‘Waterloo: Na Laochra Gael' telling the story of Irish and Scottish who fought at Waterloo will be broadcast on TG4 on 18th June 2015, using first-hand accounts and rare Irish language documents.
An exhibition at the Enniskillen museum (County Fermanagh, N. Ireland) also tells the stories of Irishmen who fought Battle of Waterloo stories (BBC video).
And an article in the Irish Times has uncovered the story of Ireland's James Graham, ‘The Bravest Man of Waterloo' (all external links).
200 YEARS AGO > On 18 June 1815 the Journal de l'Empire announced - inevitably with a few days delay - the news of the campaign of Belgium. The editors did not yet know anything about the battle being waged at that very moment at Waterloo. It opened with the words "As the following news only reached us today at 4am, it could not be included in the copies of the newspaper that had already been printed. We are therefore reprinting it for those of our readers who might not have received it”. The newspaper then described the taking of Charleroi by Napoleon on the 15 June, the "1,500 prisoners," he captured, the "four Prussian regiments crushed" and the "few men" lost by the Emperor. "The enthusiasm of the people of Charleroi, and of all the countries that we have crossed, is indescribable." Furthermore, on the same date (the 18th) at 6am, the newspaper added the news that in Paris a hundred gun salute had announced "a great victory at Ligny over the English and Prussian armies, commanded by Lord Wellington".
150 YEARS AGO > LOI DU 14 JUIN 1865 SUR LES CHEQUES.
The “law of 14th of June 1865 regarding cheques” officially laid down the use of cheques in France. The “check” had come into usage in Britain in 1742. During the debate at the Senate, on 23 May 1865, the official commission set up to study the use of cheques in particular in Britain had pointed out in its report, “we may not have had the word [cheque] for very long but we already had its equivalent in reality ”. Effectively, from 1826 the “Banque de France” began to issue “mandats blancs”, and “mandats rouges”, which together with “reçus” were essentially a way, like cheques, for the dematerialised transfer of money. However these “mandats” were subject to stamp duty. The commission presented before the Senate went on to quantify that in 1864 alone a total of 14 or 15 billion francs had been in circulation in the form of these “mandats”. More importantly, the commission emphasised the increased productivity that could be expected by facilitating the dematerialisation of funds, comparing overall French annual revenues with those, massively superior, of Britain. In an analysis of the Loi du 14 Juin 1865, (published in 1874, in French external link) J. Bédarride writes “this enormous development in our neighbouring country, is due to compensations between bankers and it is the cheque which has and still does facilitate this. We can therefore easily understand why [the cheque] has been exempt from tax [in that country] for the last fifty years”. Today, as other “virtual” methods of financial transactions are taking over, and many countries, including Germany, no longer use cheques, France is one of the last few countries still to use them (18.3 % of transactions in 2010), whilst Britain (still the second largest consumer of cheques in Europe after France) has pledged to phase them out in 2018.
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 763, 12-18 JUNE, 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 12/6/15)
WATERLOO > SEEN ON THE WEB (updated 12/6/15)
WATERLOO > READING LIST (updated 12/6/15)
Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter!
napoleon.org - related content:
PRESS REVIEW
WHAT'S ON (see our website for all events)
Talks
- Several Waterloo talks and events at Waterlooville Library (UK) [9-25/06/2015] (external link)
- Several Napoleonic authors are speaking at the 12th Althorp Literature Festival, UK [11/06/2015 to 13/06/2015]
- Art Antiques London Waterloo Lecture Day - Dame Rosalind Savill, Charles, Duke of Wellington and Count Adam Zamoyski London UK [15/06/2015]
- 'The News from Waterloo' and book signing with Brian Cathcart, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, UK [16/6/2015]
- Stendhal and the Battle of Waterloo, Somerset House London, UK [18/06/2015]
- Family Fun: THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, retold through a vegetable re-enactement! Apsley House, London [18/06/2015]
- "Napoleon the Great", by Andrew Roberts, British Museum [19/06/2015]
- Battle of Waterloo Commemorative Walks in London, UK [21/03/2015 - 20/06/2015]
Conferences
- 'Wateloo Revisited' Bomann-Museum, Celle, Germany [12-13/06/2015]
- 'Popular Reactions and State Responses to the 100 Days' University of Warwick, UK [07/07/2015]
- Endings and Beginnings: The World in 1815, Brussels, Belgium [06/07/2015 - 10/07/2015]
- 'Die Schlacht von Waterloo 1815 und die deutschen Truppen' Bomann-Museum, Celle, Germany [19/09/2015]
Exhibitions
- 'La beauté de la guerre. Waterloo 1815-2015' Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels, Belgium [17/06/2015 - 15/09/2015]
- 'Waterloo and the March of Science', Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Bath, UK [18/06/2015 - 13/12/2015]
- 'Unseen Waterloo: The Conflict Revisited', Somerset House London UK [12/06/2015 - 30/08/2015]
- Braine-L'Alleud 1815: au chevet des blessés, Braine-L'Alleud, Belgium [06/06/2015 - 06/09/2015]
- 'Immer wieder Napoleon...!' (Napoleon in film), Bomann-Museum Celle, Germany [07/06/2015 - 30/08/2015]
- '"Victory Sir, Victory!" Henry Percy and the Battle of Waterloo, 1815', Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, UK [18/05/2015 - 30/10/2015]
- Charging against Napoleon - Wellington's campaigns in the Peninsular Wars and at Waterloo University of Nottingham, UK [22/05/2015 - 06/09/2015]
- 'Waterloo 1815: The Art of Battle' Royal Armouries Museum Leeds, UK [22/05/2015 - 23/08/2015]
- 'Napoléon dans les plaines de Fleurus' Château de la Paix, Fleurus, Belgium [22/05/2015 - 02/08/2015]
- '"A damned serious business": Waterloo 1815, the battle and its books' Cambridge University Library, UK, and online [01/05/2015 - 16/09/2015]
- 'Wellington and Waterloo: "the tale is in every Englishman's mouth"' University of Southampton Library, UK [13 April -19 June and 13-24 July 2015]
- 'The Road to Waterloo' and ‘Waterloo Lives' Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland [03/02/2015 - 28/11/2015]
- 'Waterloo' at the Bomann-Museum, Celle, Germany [02/04/2015 - 11/10/2015]
- 'Napoleon und Bayern' Bayerisches Armeemuseum, Ingolstadt, Germany [30/04/2015 - 30/10/2015]
- 'Napoléon Ier ou la légende des Arts, 1800 –1815' Compiègne, France [24/04/2015 - 27/07/2015]
- 'Waterloo 1815 - The Battle for Peace' at Wellington Arch and new display at Apsley House London UK [18/04/2015 - 30/12/2015]
- 'Napoléon et Paris, rêves d'une capitale' Musée Carnavalet, Paris [08/04/2015 - 30/08/2015]
- 'Le congrès de Vienne, l'invention d'une Europe nouvelle' Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France [08/04/2015 - 30/07/2015]
- 'Napoléon-Wellington: Destins Croisés' Wellington Museum, Waterloo, Belgium [21/03/2015 - 31/07/2015]
- Waterloo 1815-2015: Visions of war' Bibliothèque Paul Marmotton, Paris, France [15/04/2015 - 11/07/2015]
- 'Pie VII face à Napoléon: la Tiare dans les serres de l'Aigle' Fontainebleau, France [28/03/2015 - 29/06/2015]
- 'Alexander, Napoleon and Josephine: a story of war, art and friendship' Hermitage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [28/03/2015 - 08/11/2015]
- 'Modern Heroism: Printmaking and the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte' Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge UK [03/02/2015 - 28/06/2015]
Commemorations
- Major Percy victory route (recreated by bike): The Ride of the Lions, Waterloo 200 [17/06/2015 - 20/06/2015]
Re-enactments
- 300 Borders horses and riders for Waterloo re-enactment, Penielheugh, Scotland, [28/6/2015] (external link)
WATERLOO > WHAT'S ON (updated 12/6/15)
WATERLOO CONCERTS
- A concert will be held in the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle featuring military bands and readings, 13 June
- New Scorpion Band commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo with folk songs and instrumental pieces from the period. Nottingham, UK, 18 June
- The Hanover Band will take part in a Concert and Dinner at Stationers Hall, UK 18 June
- Waterloo Concert – St John's Church, Waterloo, UK 18 June
- Exeter Cathedral Waterloo concert 20 June
SEEN ON THE WEB (all external links)
- Controversy over displayed remains of Waterloo soldier
- Blood-stained frock coat worn by Major Thomas Harris at Waterloo and at Duchess of Richmond's Ball two days earlier is tracked down by his great great grandson
- After 200 years, Braine-l'Alleud wants credit for French emperor's defeat
- Mercury archive trust to mark 200th anniversary of Battle of Waterloo
- Battle of Waterloo memorial unveiled at London station
- Screening of 1970 epic film "Waterloo" in Montgomery Wales, (18 June)
"WATERLOO" > SEEN ON THE WEB (link to our website, updated 12/6/15)
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
The Fondation Napoléon's Institutional website:
www.fondationnapoleon.org
ACCOUNT DETAILS
To change your email address, unsubscribe, and sign up for the French information bulletin.
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
|
|
