| |
|
|
|
|
| |
EDITORIAL
Dear all,
As 2003 draws to a close, bringing with it a (well-deserved?) period of rest, now's the moment to look ahead to 2004 and the bi-centenaries looming on the horizon: an exciting combination of commemorations and other events. A foretaste of this can be had with provisional programme of events to be supported by the Fondation Napoléon displayed on the site in the section Fondation Napoléon News.
And since the end of the year is often a time of reviews, here are some statistics for the site. It's too early to be precise, but there will probably have been more than 1.9 million visitors to the site in 2003. As for this bulletin, there are currently about 4,400 recipients. Don't hesitate to tell your friends about the letter, it's designed for that.
Thank you for your interest and support.
We all of us here wish you an excellent Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thierry Lentz
THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Napoleon's Athénienne, Biennais
This sumptuous lavabo, ewer and stand, delivered to Napoleon during the Consulate period, was to remain with him throughout his life (it appears in inventories of objects in the Emperor's bedroom both for the Tuileries palace in 1809 and also for the Elysée palace in 1815), all thanks to the careful attention of the faithful valet, Marchand.
SHORT OF IDEAS FOR XMAS PRESENTS?
Why not choose from our list of potential presents.
NEXT NEWSLETTER: 8 JANUARY, 2004
As a result of the closure of the Fondation Napoléon and its library, from 24 December, 2003 to 4 January, 2004, the next information bulletin will sent on Friday 9 January.
Exceptional change of opening times: Tuesday 23 December, the library will be open from 1-6pm (instead of 4-9pm). Thereafter the library will be closed for the Christmas holidays, reopening on Monday 5 January, 2004.
Naturally, the catalogue will be accessible for the whole of this period on the site.
150 YEARS AGO
During the night of the 22-23 December, 1853, at Croisset, Flaubert wrote a letter to his mistress, Louise Colet, regarding his work in writing Madame Bovary:
"I must really love you to be writing to you this evening, because I'm exhausted. I've got an iron box for a head. Since 2 this afternoon (apart from twenty-five or so minutes for dinner) I have been writing Bovary, I am [...] right in the middle of it; you sweat and your throat is tight. It's been one of those rare days in my life which I have spent entirely under the illusion, from beginning to end. Earlier, at 6 o'clock, while I was writing the words 'attack of nerves', I was so carried away, I was shouting so loudly and suffering so deeply what my little woman was feeling, that I began to fear that I would have an attack myself. I got up from my table and I opened the window to calm myself. My head was spinning. I have at the moment great pains in my knees, in my back and in my head. I am like a man who has too much [...] (please pardon the expression), what I mean is, a sort of lassitude full of drunkenness. And since I am in love, it is only right that I should not fall asleep without sending you a caress, a kiss and all the thoughts which I have left. [...]
Adieu, my dear Muse; writing to you has taken away the pain from my forehead; I put my head to your lips and go to bed.
Again adieu and a thousand kisses. Yours.
Your G."
Discover the Centre Flaubert de l'Université de Rouen
200 YEARS AGO
A Sénatus-consulte dated 28 Frimaire, An XII (20 December, 1803), modified the selection process for the president of the Corps législatif: previously the president had been elected by the legislators. Now however he was to be chosen by the First Consul from five nominations proposed by the assembly.
On 28 Frimaire, An XII (20 December, 1803), Charles Nodier (1780-1844) was arrested as a result of the publication of his poem "La Napoleone", a fierce indictment of the First Consul. Not having planned to publish the text, Nodier was apparently surprised to see it appear (anonymously) in the journal, L'Ambigu. He subsequently anounced that he was the author.
On 2 Nivôse, An XII (24 December, 1803) in Baltimore, Napoleon's youngest brother, Jerome, married Elisabeth Patterson, the daughter of a rich merchant, in the face of the First Consul's violent opposition. Indeed, Napoleon even went so far as to order the Ministre de la Marine to forbid all French ships' captains to receive the young couple on board should the latter desire to come to France. Since Jerome was born in 1784, the marriage contravened the recent Civil Code, which required the parents' authorisation for marriages of minors, that is, those under 20.
Jerome finally gave in to Napoleon in 1805, allowing Elisabeth to return to live in the US with their son, Jérôme-Napoléon.
Louis-André Pichon (1771-1854), diplomat, had been sent by Bonaparte to Philadelphia as Commissioner General for Commercial Relations. Unable to stop Jerome marriage to Elisabeth Patterson, Pichon was to be called back to France in September 1804, officially for financial malpractice. He was appointed a Conseiller d'Etat by Jerome when the latter was made King of Westphalia, becoming Jerome's Intendant Général of finances until his resignation in 1812.
On Thursday 7 Nivôse, An XII (29 December, 1803), Bonaparte saw the premier of L'Heureux malgré lui, a one-act opera buffa, words by Saint-Just and music by Méhul, at the Opéra-Comique. According to those who were there, the First Consul was applauded more than the new pieces performed.
10 Nivôse, An XII (30 December, 1803), the First Consul left for a third inspection of the camp at Boulogne.
On 1 January, 1804, Jean Jacques Dessalines, one of Toussaint-Louverture's lieutenants (Toussaint had died in France the pervious year), declared independance for Haiti (ex-Santo Domingo) and became leader of the country.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Christmas and New Year!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
|
|
|
|
|
|
THIS WEEK:
Snippets
English translation of guide to the Route Napoléon
What's on
- Commemoration/Conference: Talleyrand, prince of negotiators
- Exhibition: Elisa's Days: the public and private life of a princess, Lucca (Italy)
- Exhibition: Art booty in the Napoleonic period. The "French gift" to Mainz, 1803
Web sites
Bagetti prints held at the Museo Civico in Alessandria and Caricatures from the Civic Museums of Leipzig, put online by the European Network of Napoleonic Sites, organised by the Comune of Alessandria in Italy.
Go to the Napoleonic Directory, then select 'History' in the web site scrollbar menu
Recently published books
A selection of titles for Christmas
Inventing a Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, by Gore Vidal
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Napoleon: A Political Life, by Stephen Englund
- This month's painting: Costume Ball at the Tuileries Palace, by Carpeaux
- This month's article: The History of Lord Seaton's Regiment, (The 52nd Light Infantry) at the Battle of Waterloo, Chapter Four, by William Leake
- In the Collectors Corner, Napoleon's Athénienne, Biennais<<
|
|
