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THIS MONTH'S BOOK
Napoleon's Jailer: Lt. Gen. Sir Hudson Lowe. A life, by Desmond Gregory
This book is the first full-scale biography of Hudson Lowe - a remarkable fact, given the huge quantities of ink spilt in his disfavour - and it attempts to give a more balanced view of the man best known as 'Napoleon's Jailer'.
COMMEMORATION OF THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON
Initially at the Hôtel des Invalides, and later at the church of Saint-Louis des Invalides, the ceremony of the laying of the wreath and the mass in memory of Napoleon I and the soldiers of the Grande Armée who died for France, 5 May, 2003.
THE CLAIMS OF A PORTUGUESE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Vasco Graça Moura, writer and Portuguese MEP, has sent a letter to the French Minister of Culture Jean-Jacques Aillagon, asking that certain art works seized by the French during the occupation of Portugal between 1807-1811 be returned: "all of Portugal's cultural treasures, in all their richness and diversity, must be returned to the Portuguese". Unforuntately for Monsieur Allagon, Signor Graça Moura is in fact quoting the French minister's letter to UNESCO written at the end of the latest Gulf war in which the latter demanded that "Irak's treasures and other cultural objects should be preserved and returned to their rightful owners".
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
13 Floréal, An XI (3 May, 1803), the Minister of Finances, Gaudin, launched a competition for a new design to be engraved upon the new farnc pieces. Another competition was also announced for the design of new pairs of scales.
Le Moniteur, 13 Floréal, An XI, "Programme des concours ouverts pour la perfection des monnaies et des procédés des monnayages."
Because of the delay in translation, the finalisation of the treaty sealing the Louisiana Purchase in the end took place on 18 Floréal, An XI (8 May, 1803).
For more on the Louisiana Purchase, see our Lousiana Purchase bicentenary dossier.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Easter!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Snippets
- Hougoumont Farm up for sale
What's on
- Exhibition: Louisiana Purchases, New Orleans, US
- Re-enactment: Ligny 2003
- Commemoration: 7th Annual French Presence symposium and 8th annual commemorative ceremonies for the anniversary of the death of the Prince Imperial, South Africa
- Commemoration: 2003 Commoration of the Battle of Tolentino, 1815, Italy
- Commemoration: 5 May Commemoration, Reggio Calabria, Italy
The monthly titles
- Book of the Month: Napoleon's Jailer: Lt. Gen. Sir Hudson Lowe. A life, by Desmond Gregory
- This month's picture, The Empress Eugénie in 18th-century costume, by Franz-Xaver Winterhalter
- Article of the Month, Louisiana: tohave and to have not..., by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, Josephine's wedding basket
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