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FRENCH BOOKS ON NAPOLEON: A PUBLISHER'S EYE VIEW
At the beginning of the 21st century, there was not so much a wave as a tsunami of books in French on Napoleon. Readers fell over themselves to buy copies of Max Gallo's Napoléon or Dominique de Villepin's Cent-Jours. The former sold more than a million copies, and the latter saw sales of more than 100,000. But - and I'm not being critical here - Max Gallo's novel-like prose often takes paths that the historian dare not tread. So did this mean that historical rigour, as exemplified in Jean Tulard's ground-breaking Napoléon ou le mythe du sauveur, was out of favour? Were publishers only going to produce books erring on the historical romance? Thank heavens, no! The last fifteen years have seen a great number of serious, research-based tomes on the Consulate and Empire, all kitted out with due footnotes and references. But the sales have been nowhere near as stratospheric. In this century's first decade and a half, there has not been one book, biography or other, that in its first edition has sold over 50,000 copies. And those that have gone over 10,000 can be counted on the fingers of one hand – only twenty indeed have sold more than 5,000 copies. Barely one hundred have sold more than 2,000 – the breakeven total for a publishing house. After that, many have sold less than 1,000, doubtless much to the annoyance of the commissioning editor. And yet, these disappointments notwithstanding, book publishing has not slowed, despite the fact that the numbers of those addicted to reading (which Valéry Larbaud delightfully called "the vice that goes unpunished") have fallen away over the years. Readers are demanding better books, hence the logical drop off in sales. Today more than ever, it would be a foolish publisher who underestimates the reader's intelligence.
Pierre Branda
Head of the Heritage Department at the Fondation Napoléon
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5 MAY > ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON I
CEREMONIES IN PARIS > A mass in memory of Napoleon I and the soldiers of the Grande Armée will be held at 6.30pm on 5 May, 2016, in the Cathedral of St Louis des Invalides. The ceremony is organised by the military governor of Paris, the governor of Les Invalides, and the imperial family, and will be presided over by HIH Prince Napoleon and is open to the public. The mass will be preceded at 6pm by a laying of wreaths - including that of the Fondation Napoléon - at the tomb of the Emperor in the crypt of the Dome Church adjacent to the Cathedral.
... AND ON ST HELENA > "Moment De Memoire": A commemoration of the death of Napoleon I will be held at 12 noon on Sunday 1 May 2016 at Napoleon's tomb on St Helena.
CONCERT IN ROME > There will be a book presentation followed by a concert on the 5 May in commemoration of the death of the Emperor, starting at 6pm.
ONLINE
MUSIC > You can listen to the cantata written by Berlioz for the 5 May on Youtube (external link).
POETRY > Poems dedicated to Napoleon by Alexander Pushkin: one entitled Napoleon on the occasion of his death in 1821, and another: To the Sea.
DOSSIER > And find out much more here in our Close-up on Napoleon's Death.
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PAINTING > NAPOLEON EMERGING FROM HIS TOMB
In 1840, the return of the Emperor's mortal remains to Paris stimulated a resurgence of production of works with the death of the Emperor as subject. This aquatint by Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet (after a painting by Horace Vernet) depicts the “resurrection” of Napoleon, an allegory for his return to life as his remains returned to the hub of what had been the Empire. The work can be seen until 24 July at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris as part of the exhibition Napoleon on St Helena: His Fight for his story. This resurrection motif can also be seen in another work, a sculpture executed 2 years later by François Rude: Napoleon awakens to immortality.
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CERCLE D'ETUDES NAPOLEON FOUNDATION LECTURE
4 May is the sign-up date for the talk by Franck Favier - "Berthier, de l'homme de Versailles au grand dignitaire de l'Empire" - which takes place on 17 May 2016 at 18h at the Fondation Napoléon in Paris. On this occasion the author, who won the Fondation's First Empire Prize in 2015 for his biography of Berthier, will sign copies of his book. More information here (in French).
NAPOLEON AT THE SYDNEY WRITERS' FESTIVAL
“Napoleon: The Intrigues of an Emperor” is the subject of a panel discussion at the Sydney Writers' Festival, on Friday 20 May at 10am. The panel will include historian and biographer of Napoleon, Philip Dwyer, as well as novelists, Thomas Keneally and Anne Whitehead. (external link)
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SECOND EMPIRE CARICATURES > TWO EXHIBITIONS
BROOKLYN, USA > Daumier's Paris: Caricature and Cultural Trauma in the Age of Haussmann (until 18 May). The Art Gallery at Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY is holding an exhibition curated by Jennifer Pride from Florida State University, who has written her dissertation on the cultural trauma caused by Haussmanization in nineteenth-century Paris. The show features more than 200 objects from Pride's personal collection: Honoré Daumier's caricatures, related nineteenth-century news journals and books, lithographs, and stereocards, as well as many period photographs documenting the dramatically changing landscape of Paris under the direction of Baron Georges Haussmann during the reign of Napoleon III. The curator will give a lecture in early May. See the college's website for more details. (external links in English) [image: Honoré Daumier, photograph by Victor Laisné or Lainé]
PARIS, FRANCE > Caricatures and Satirical Drawings from the Musée d'Orsay Collections. Two new display rooms at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris present a selection of drawings by caricaturists such as Cham, Sem, Cappiello, Hermann-Paul and Caran d'Ache, Puvis de Chavannes, Carpeaux and Garnier, and drawings by creative artists who broke down the barriers between "fine art" and "popular art": Daumier, Ensor and Toulouse-Lautrec. They are all drawn from the museum's own collection of graphic arts, some of which have never been seen in public before. (external link in English)
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NAPOLEONIC EVENTS AROUND EUROPE IN THE FIRST HALF OF MAY
Here is a selection of re-enactments, period balls and commemorations taking place around Europe over the next few weeks.
FRANCE
4-8 May > Montmirail 1814 Weekend at Vauchamps, Montmirial, and Sarrechamps
(Contact email)
UK
7 May > Regency Assembly is organising its Darwin's Delight Ball at the George Hotel, Lichfield. (Contact email).
13-15 May > Yaxley Festival and Norman Cross events. Peterborough.
14-15 May > Re-enactment at Jaywick Martello Tower.
ITALY
13-15 May > Napoleonic Grand Ball + Weekend in Lucca.
PORTUGAL
14 May > Annual Ceremony at the British Cemetery, Elvas.
16 May > Annual Ceremony in Albuera.
21-22 May > Re-enactment weekend in Albuera.
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No. 800, 29 April - 5 May 2016
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or towards a specific project, by making a donation?
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EVENT > NAPOLÉON À SAINTE-HÉLÈNE. LA CONQUÊTE DE LA MÉMOIRE (Napoleon on St Helena, His fight for his Story), exhibition at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris (France) until 24/07/2016
> Short presentation of the exhibition in English on napoleon.org
> Detailed presentation of the exhibition in French on the website of the Musée de l'Armée
Follow us on our new English-language Facebook page and on Twitter!
napoleon.org - related content:
WHATS ON (see our website for all events)
Exhibitions
- A Revolutionary Museum: Alexandre Lenoir's Museum of French Monuments
The Louvre, Paris, FR [7/4/2016-4/7/2016] NEW
- Rosa Bonheur and her family: Three Generations of Artists, Port-Royal des Champs, Paris region, FR [07/04/2016 - 25/07/2016] NEW
- Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, Château de Chantilly, FR [23/3/206-26/6/2016] NEW
- L'épopée fantastique, 1820-1920, cycles et motos, Château de Compiègne, FR [8/4/2016 – 25/7/2016] NEW
- High Society: The Portraits of Franz X. Winterhalter, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA [17/04/2016-14/08/2016]
- Fashion forward: three centuries of fashion, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, FR [07/04/2016- 14/08/2016]
- Napoléon vu par Abel Gance. La séquence corse, Maison Bonaparte, Ajaccio, Corsica [31/03/2016 - 03/07/2016]
- Carrosses à Marmottan, Bibliothèque Marmotton, Paris, FR [23/03/2016 - 30/07/2016]
- Hubert Robert (1733–1808) A Visionary Painter, Musée du Louvre, Paris, FR [09/03/2016 - 30/05/2016]
- Easy Virtue. Prostitution in French Art, 1850-1910, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, NL [19/02/2016 - 19/06/2016]
- The art of the superfluous, Paris, the decorative arts and fashion, Archives de Paris, FR [08/02/2016 - 03/06/2016]
- Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA [15/02/2016 - 15/05/2016]
- Franceschini-Pietri, Napoleon III's secretary Palais Fesch, Ajaccio , Corsica [27/11/2015 - 09/05/2016]
Concerts
- Cycle "Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène. A la conquête de la mémoire", Les Invalides, Paris, FR [07/04/2016 - 20/06/2016]
- Ei fu. Concerto per il 5 maggio, Museo Napoleonico, Roma, Italy [5/05/2016]
SEEN ON THE WEB
- ‘Napoleon in Saint Helena, His Fight for His Story' Review in the WSJ
- Greatest cartooning coup of all time: The Brit who convinced everyone Napoleon was short
- The ninth Napoleonic historical festival – in pictures
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. It 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
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