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THIS MONTH'S PAINTING
The Birth of Venus, painted in 1863 by Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889)
At the same time as Manet's Le Bain - subsequently renamed Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe - caused a scandal at the Salon des Refusés in May 1863 and attracted huge critical opprobrium, another female nude was received in triumph at the official Salon. It was Alexandre Cabanel's La Naissance de Vénus.
CATALOGUE OF THE BIBLIOTHEQUE M. LAPEYRE BACK "UP"
After a few days "down", the catalogue of the Bibliothèque M. Lapeyre-Fondation Napoléon is once again "up": if you're coming to France and want to do some Napoleonic research, check the catalogue first (it's in the Reading Room) before coming along to 148, blvd Haussmann 75008 Paris. There are about 6,000 titles!
For further information on use of the library and the service offered, contact the librarian Chantal Lheureux-Prevot (French) or Peter Hicks (English, Italian).
THE TREASURES OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON COLLECTION: "ART DE VIVRE" AND HISTORY
In association with the Musée Jacquemart-André, the Fondation Napoléon is preparing an exhibition of the "Treasures" of its collection, more than 200 objects. The exhibition will open in September 2004 and will last for six months. The commissioners of the exhibition will be Bernard Chevallier (Director of the Musée National de Malmaison) and Nicolas Sainte-Fare Garnot (Head curator of the Musée Jacquemart-André).
NAPOLEON IN BRAZIL
Wednesday 8 October, the "Napoléon/Napoleao" exhibition in Sao Paulo saw its 100,000th visitor. Time to crack open the Champagne!
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO
In October 1853, the first experiments with a proto-telephone were done by Charles Bourseul (1829-1912), an employee in the French Telegraph Service (which was still using Chappe's telegraph invented during the Revolutionary period).
In 1792, Claude Chappe (1763-1805) had presented to the Assemblée législative a system of communication based on the transmission of messages between stations set about 10 kilometers apart and placed in elevated positions. The messages were composed using a series of semaphore signals produced by a mechanical device made of arms and levers. These signals were then read using a telescope and then replicated towards the next station, etc. Each signal expressed a word or an expression (not individual letters). Unfortunately the system had some serious drawbacks: the telegraph could not be used at night, in fog or to cross large stretches of water.
In 1850, the telegraphic network had spread over 5,000 kilometers with 534 stations serving 29 major towns. Its use was reserved for the army and the organs of state.
One year after his first tests, in August 1854, Charles Bourseul published an article in the periodical, L'Illustration, in which he laid out his idea for a system of electric transmission of words. "Imagine that you are speaking close to a mobile surface which is flexible enough to catch absolutely all the vibrations produced by the voice, and that this surface should in sequence both establish and cut communication with a battery, you could have another surface at a distance which would more or less immediately after be set in motion, thus the word would be transmitted across a distance by the electricity".
Whilst all the general principles of the telephone are here, they could not yet be put into action. Above all, Borseul met with general scepticism, and both the Academy of Sciences and his employer, the Postal service, suggested that he occupy his time for seriously.
Twenty years later, Bourseul was contacted by the young American of Scottish extraction, aged 29, Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922). During his research on the transmission of sound, Bell, then teacher in a school for deaf-mutes, read Bourseul's article and asked him not only for further information but also whether he might like to collaborate in producing reciprocal experiments. Bourseul refused the offer, and it was Bell alone who registered the patent for the telephone on 14 February, 1876. His "invention" was developed with success and the first telephone users in France were officially registered in 1879.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Snippets
- Discovery of Napoleonic Italian conscript papers, Montecchio Emilia
- Napoleonic wallpaper up for auction
Press Review
- Member's Bulletin of the Napoleonic Society of America, 74/Summer 2003
Recent publications
- Robert Emmet: the making of a legend, by Marianne Elliot
- Napoleon's Finest: Marshal Louis Davout and his 3rd corps, Combat Journal of Operations, 1805-1807, translated and commentary by Scott Bowden
- Napoleon's Last Grande Armée: portraits from the Dresden and Freiberg Manuscripts, 1813, edited by Alfred Umhey
What's on
- The Exhibition/Antiques Fair in Montecchio Emilia
- Joint Annual Conference - Napoleonic Society of America/Napoleonic Alliance
- Presentation of the Antonio Spinosa's book, Napoleon, Flagello d'Italia (Napoleon; Italy's scourge)
- Auction: Napoleonic Medals, Baldwin's London
- Exhibition: Napoleon in Brazil
- Exhibition: Art booty in the Napoleonic period. The "French gift" to Mainz, 1803
- Conference: the Napoleonic Association autumn conference
- Exhibition: Bonaparte or Buonaparte
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Parting the desert: the creation of the Suez Canal, by Zachary Karabell
- This month's painting: The Birth of Venus, painted in 1863 by Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889)
- This month's article: 'A tale of Napoleonic forgeries?', by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, The Cent-Jours standard Eagle of the 6e Régiment des Chasseurs à Cheval
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