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TRANSITION
The moment of reckoning is nearly upon us … we can hardly wait until next Wednesday to share with you the brand new version of our website napoleon.org, which we have been working on for the last few months. The current version of the site (which was first launched in 1996) dates from September 2008, and is long overdue for a serious upgrade both in terms of its design as well as for technical reasons.
We've chosen a more sober, (we hope) less cluttered look, designed for a more agreeable reading experience. As well as a slight reshuffle of the sections, the site will be compatible with smart phones and also allows for easier sharing on the social networks. From next week your Bulletin, which for the occasion is being renamed “Newsletter” – TA DA! – has also been given a makeover with a new look designed to be easier to read and of course bringing you every Friday a multitude of news, events, articles artworks and more. So don't miss next Friday's New Look Newsletter for a tour of the new napoleon.org.
Irène Delage
We have of course taken all the necessary precautions for this transition, but if you do experience any technical difficulties with our Newsletter or the new website don't hesitate to let us know.
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OBITUARIES
> OUR CONDOLENCES TO JACQUES AND JACQUELINE MACE
On 2 May, our administrator and assistant treasurer, Jacques Macé and his wife Jacqueline received the painful news of the sudden death of their daughter Armelle while she was on a mission for the International Organization of la Francophonie in Vietnam, her country of birth. Thu Lan Armelle Macé was buried on 12 May at the cemetery in Draveil. The president, the board of directors and employees of the Fondation Napoléon extend their deepest sympathy and friendship to Mr and Mrs Macé and to their family.
> DEATH OF THE HISTORIAN FRANÇOIS ROTH
We learned with sadness of the accidental death of Francis Roth, former professor of contemporary history at the University of Nancy (France) and author of numerous books, including several on the Second Empire and the annexation of Alsace-Moselle after the Treaty of Frankfurt: La Lorraine annexée, étude sur la Présidence de Lorraine dans l'Empire allemand, 1870-1918 (1976, reprinted in 2011 by Serpenoise); La Lorraine dans la guerre de 1870 (1984, PUF); Le dernier siège de Metz (2013, Serpenoise); and, of course, the excellent book Guerre de 1870 (1990, Fayard ; 2005 paperback, Pluriel). Among his other work, we must mention two books outside our favourite periods: a monumental biography of Poincaré (Raymond Poincaré, un homme d'État républicain, Fayard, 2000) and an absolutely essential booklet for the understanding of the annexed provinces, Alsace-Lorraine: histoire d'un "pays perdu", de 1870 à nos jours (Editions Stanislas 2010). François Roth was 79 years old.
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DIPLOMATIC TREASURE
Among the opulent gifts sent to Napoleon III by the King of Siam (most of which became part of Empress Eugenie's Chinese Museum), was a letter written on a sheet of pure gold which is now conserved at the French Archives Diplomatiques, and will be on view in Paris from 19 October 2016 to 15 January 2017 as part of the exhibition “Secrets et trésors de la Diplomatie, l'art de la paix”, at the Musée du Petit Palais. (“The art of Peace: Secrets and Treasures of Diplomacy”).
At the time of the Franco-Siamese negotiations, Siam had already been of great interest to the British for a number of years, rivalling with France for “possession” of the Kingdom. In this article Peter Hicks asks “Great Britain and Siam after 1855: informal empire and /or war with France?”
THE KING AND I
If you live in Chicago why not prolong your experience of “East meets West” with the famous Rogers and Hammerstein musical based on the memoirs of Anna Leonowens: The English governess at the Siamese court: being recollections of six years in the Royal palace at Bangkok (which you can read online here, external link), who was hired by Rama IV as part of the Siamese King's overall project to educate his court in the manners and learning of the West. The acclaimed 2014 production of the King and I from the Théâtre de Châtelet in Paris is being performed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago until 22 May.
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CERCLE D'ETUDES LECTURES AT THE FONDATION NAPOLÉON IN PARIS
On 24 May 2016 at 6pm, a talk will be given by Isabelle Chave as part of the partnership between the Fondation Napoléon and the Archives Nationales “Napoléon Ier aux Archives impériales (1852-1870): stratégie des preuves et affirmation dynastique”. If you'd like to attend please remember to reserve by phone or email; booking possible from 18 May. More information (in French).
Charles Eloi Vial's PhD research, which received a Grant from the Fondation Napoléon in 2010, is the subject of a new book called Le Grand Veneur de Napoléon à Charles X. In it Vial explores the continuity and differences in the practice of the Royal Hunt from the First Empire to the Restoration through the role of the Grand Veneur the official who co-ordonnated the hunts. This monograph was published with the support of the Research Centre of Versailles, the François Sommer Foundation and the Fondation Napoléon.
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COMMEMORATION OF THE DEATH OF THE PRINCE IMPERIAL
The Prince Imperial Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, only son of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, died at the age of 23 in a Zulu attack on 1 June 1879, while fighting with the British army in South Africa. This year, the commemorations are being organised from 23 to 29 May by the cultural association Route du Prince Impérial, the Alliance Française, the town of Pietermaritzburg, and the French Presence in KwaZulu-Natal association. More information on the “French Week” here (external link in English).
Find out more about the Prince Impérial in our Close-up.
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Rebecca Young
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BITE-SIZE BULLETIN: "TRANSITION" (N°802, 13 - 19 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]
- Rosa Bonheur and her family: Three Generations of Artists, Port-Royal des Champs, Paris region, FR [07/04/2016 - 25/07/2016]
- Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, Château de Chantilly, FR [23/3/206-26/6/2016]
- L'épopée fantastique, 1820-1920, cycles et motos, Château de Compiègne, FR [8/4/2016 – 25/7/2016]
- 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] LAST DAYS
Concerts
- Cycle "Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène. A la conquête de la mémoire", Les Invalides, Paris, FR [07/04/2016 - 20/06/2016]
SEEN ON THE WEB
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
ACCOUNT DETAILS
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