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EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
Already tired at merely the idea of starting up again. Fair enough. But perhaps a glimpse of what's in store for this autumn of Napoleonic bicentenaries will raise your flagging spirits.
From now until Christmas, the Napoleonic world will be in full swing, and we here in this letter will do our best to give you the broadest choice possible.
That being said, we hope you won't hold it against us if we highlight the few key events with which the Fondation Napoléon is linked, namely:
- 28 September: public opening of the exhibition The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon at the Musée Jacquemart-André;
- 13 October: the arrival in bookshops of the first volume of the new and colossal Correspondance générale de Napoléon;
- 18-19 November: the international conference Visions of Napoleon's European politique, for which a few places still remain;
- 2 December: the Napoleon I's coronation mass at the Madeleine, Paris;
- 3-4-5 December: the First Empire Salon at the Palais des Congrès, Porte Maillot, Paris.
And of course, the usual annual events: the Fondation Napoléon History Grands Prix Awards (end of November), the new volumes of the Bibliothèque Napoléon, and events and talks both in Paris and further afield. In other words, one hundred and one reasons for receiving the bulletin - and encouraging your friends to sign up too.
In short, there's plenty to look forward to.
An excellent autumn to you all.
Thierry Lentz
ENCOUNTER WITH BERNARD CHEVALLIER, DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEE DE MALMAISON...
Bernard Chevallier tells of his passion for Josephine, her estate at Malmaison and his recent book, Napoleon, Centres of Power (Ed. Artlys), and the coming exhibition 'The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon'.
THIS MONTH'S BOOK
Fighting Napoleon: Guerillas, Bandits and Adventurers in Spain 1808-1814, by Charles J. Esdaile
In this important book, Charles Esdaile takes head on the crucial problem of definition of the guerillas and their struggle during the Peninsular War.
200 YEARS AGO
Napoleon spent from 15 to 24 Fructidor, An XII (2 to 11 September, 1804) in Aix-la-Chapelle, and on 20 Fructidor (7 September), he stood in thought before the presumed tomb of
Charlemagne. During an imposing ceremonial, he bowed before the relics of the great 'european' emperor. Carolingian references were to abound in the weeks preceding the coronation in Notre-Dame.
September saw the opening of the Salon des Arts, in which the public were offered the painting by Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835), Les pestiférés de Jaffa (Bonaparte visiting the plague victims in Jaffa), a work Josephine had commissioned. Find out more this picture in about in the section Essential Napoleon > Key Paintings.
150 YEARS AGO
In September 1854, Napoleon III survived another assassination attempt.
7 September, 1854, a decree was passed for the formation of the commission created to oversee the publication of the correspondence of Napoleon I. The commission was seconded to Ministère d'Etat and directed by Achille Fould. The president was Maréchal Vaillant, War Minister, other notable members were: Baron Charles Dupin, senator, Comte Jérôme-Paul de Champagny, Député at the Corps législatif, Comte de Flahaut, senator and father of the Duc de Morny, Prosper Mérimée, member of the Académie française, Général Aupick, diplomat and senator (and father-in-law of Charles Baudelaire...) and François-Armand de Chabrier, General Director of the Archives de l'Empire.
French troops, led by marshal de Saint-Arnaud (1798-1854), set sail for the Crimean coast.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
Snippets
- Two new networks: a Murat Network and a Napoleon Network
- Remarkable new paintings come to light in Australia
Press review
- The Nelson Dispatch, vol. 8, Part 6, April 2004
- Gazette: the member's bulletin of the Napoleonic Alliance
Just published
- The genesis of Napoleonic propaganda, 1796-1799, by Wayne Hanley
What's on
- Conference: Napoleonic Association, UK
- Conference: Napoleonic Society of America, Annual Conference, Washington
- Exhibition: Was für ein Theater, Krönungen & Spektakel in napoleonischer Zeit
(What a show! Coronations and pomp in the Napoleonic period), Château d'Arenenberg, Switzerland
- Exhibition: Giovanni Spadolini's passion for Napoleon: a tale of history, politics and culture, Elba, Italy
- Conference: England and Hanover, Cambridge (UK)
- Exhibition: Napoleon. The Sacre, at the Musée Fesch, Ajaccio
- Exhibition: Napoleon and the sea, a dream of Empire, Paris
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Fighting Napoleon: Guerillas, Bandits and Adventurers in Spain 1808-1814, by Charles J. Esdaile
- This month's painting: The Comtesse Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, by Baron Gérard
- This month's article: Napoleon and the theatre, by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, Dessert plate from the «Service particulier de l'Empereur» : "Le prytanée de Saint-Cyr" by N.-A. Lebel
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