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EDITORIAL
Dear Friends,
The Fondation Napoléon and its Brazilian opposite number, the Fondation Armando Alvarès Penteado (FAAP), are currently presenting in São Paulo a grand exhibition entitled "Napoléon/Napoleão", and which has so far met with outstanding public success: more than 2,000 visitors per day since the opening. At that rate, 200,000 people will have seen the exhibition by the time it closes. Not only is this enormously satisfying for us (150 pieces come from the Fondation Napoléon collection), the exercise is also thought-provoking in several respects.
Could such an operation have taken place in Europe, taking into account the considerable investment made by the FAAP in order to house and exhibit the 350 works on show? Not since 1969 has there been a large exhibition in Paris on Napoleon - at any rate, nothing on the scale of that currently underway in São Paulo.
The way in which the exhibition has been set up also raises interesting issues: the FAAP boldly championed an astonishing scenography, with special effects, projected images on giant screens, son et lumières, all masterminded by the Frenchman, Michel Albertini. Which European museum would go that far, yet still respecting the works on show and making them accessible to the greatest number of people?
The FAAP exhibition, which deserves all the high acclaim it has received, is a reminder, if one were needed, of the universality of the figure of Napoleon and his inseparability from the history of France in particular and of Europe in general.
Thierry Lentz.
THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE
This month's article: 'Palmerston's Follies': a reply to the French 'threat', by Peter Hicks
From the arrival of Louis-Napoleon as President in 1848 up until the debacle in 1870, Franco-British relations saw a roller-coaster ride, from close partnership (during the Crimean war) to downright hostility. And yet the period is characterised by he expression, used by Palmerston in 1844, "entente cordial" or warm understanding. Indeed, during the more hostile moments Palmerston himself was responsible championing a policy of fortified defences for Britain, notably the south coast of England and the Channel Islands. But such a gun emplacement policy was not new. It had been the response 45 years earlier when faced with French president's charismatic and altogether more threatening uncle.
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Port clearance in Boulogne
15 Fructidor, An XI (2 September, 1803), Napoleon gave instructions that the houses which projected too far onto the quays in Boulogne be demolished, so that the French fleet should not be obstructed in its manoeuvres.
Correspondance, n° 7064
Calling Admiral Bruix!
On 16 Fructidor, An XI (3 September, 1803) alone, Napoleon, from Saint-Cloud, wrote no fewer than 3 letters to the commander of the Boulogne flotill. One particularly shows the agitated state of mind of the First Consul regarding the Camp de Boulogne:
"Citizen Admiral Bruix, it appears that everything is beginning to be in order at Boulogne. You must immediately set about dealing with Etaples. I gave orders for the road to the sea at Neufchâtel to be laid, so as to be able to get from Boulogne to Etaples without crossing the dunes: has work on this begun? I gave orders for the repair work on the road from Etaples to Montreuil: is this work being done? Have you started positioning the stakes? Is there a maritime administration, have the sites for the various bodies been chosen, both for the navy and the army?"
Correspondance, n° 7070
Getting ready for winter
In a letter dated 19 Fructidor, An XI (6 September, 1803), Napoleon asked his Interior Minister, Chaptal, to give "the workers" something to do, to provide them with a salary, and to prevent any uprisings in the capital:
" The winter is going to be harsh, citizen Minister, meat very costly. Work must be provided in Paris:
1° Continue the work of the Ourcq canal;
2° Start work on the Desaix and d'Orsay quays;
3° Have all the houses on the list for demolition knocked down; provide a report;
4° Work on the Jardin des Plantes bridge;
5° Have the new streets paved;
6° Find other jobs for the people."
Correspondance, n° 7080
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Autumn basics: Essential Napoleon
- The Key Dates, the key First Empire and Second Empire, and the Genealogy
- Or why not try a quizz!
- 12 Floréal, An III, 16 Messidor, An XI: what's the 'real' date? Check out the calendar converter.
What's on
- Conference: the Napoleonic Association autumn conference
- Exhibition: Bonaparte or Buonaparte
- Re-enactments: Central European Napoleonic Society - Events 2003
- Exhibition: Bicentenary of the signature of the Act of Mediation (Switzerland, February 1803) - closes tomorrow!]
- Re-enactment: Napoleonic Association Continental Summer Events - Dennewitz, Germany, camp and battles
The monthly titles
- Summer reading 2003
- This month's picture, Reception of the Ambassadors from Siam at the Château de Fontainebleau, by Jean-Léon Gerome
- This month's article: 'Palmerston's Follies': a reply to the French 'threat', by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, a clock, "Diogenes looking for an honest man", by Claude Galle
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