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EDITORIAL
The great enterprise of the publication of the complete correspondance of Napoleon I by the Fondation Napoléon is underway. In addition to the intellectual problems we expect to encounter, there is also a not inconsiderable 'industrial' difficulty, namely, the copying, checking, and later commenting upon the letters selected by the commission.
One of the first tasks in this enterprise will be the search for previously unpublished letters by Napoleon. And we know that hundreds are held in private collections.
We are therefore calling upon all those who own letters by Napoleon to come to our aid.
If you have a letter by Napoleon, please do not hesitate to contact us. All we need is a copy of the letter (or letters) which you own.
The name of all those who join us in this adventure by providing us with unpublished letters will, naturally, be mentioned in the final publications and will receive a certificate testifying to the fact that they took part in the operation. Thank you in advance for your participation in this project.
Thierry Lentz
Director of the Fondation Napoléon
OBJECT OF THE MONTH - FEBRUARY
A golden leaf from Napoleon's coronation crown
At the Château de Fontainebleau visitors can view the last remaining gold leaf from the coronation crown made by Biennais, a relic which once belonged to the painter Isabey.
STOP PRESS: BIBLIOTHEQUE MARTIAL LAPEYRE - FONDATION NAPOLEON
The library will be closed exceptionally on Thursdays 7 and 14 March, but open Fridays 8 and 15 March from 10am to 3pm.
Bibliothèque Martial Lapeyre - Fondation Napoléon, 148 boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris
Contact: Chantal Lheureux-Prévot
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
In Paris there existed a Société des amis des arts (a society of friends of the arts) which had created a fund (through the participation of founders and share holders) in order to support artists and to promote art by buying paintings, sketches and sculptures by contemporary French artists: "Every year, on 30 Prairial, these items were divided up amonst the share holders on the basis of one item for ten shares."
Gazette nationale, 30 Pluviôse, An X
"Polyglotie", a project for the learning of living foreign languages
"The aim of this establishment is for children to learn to speak and pronounce well several languages without difficulty at a time in childhood which is usually wasted. […] In Russia, the children of foreigners, from an early age, speak four languages with equal ease.
German, English, Italian and French, since they are the most useful, will be the languages principally taught in these establishments. Children of all ages will be accepted; but those from three to six will be preferred since it is at this age that the organs are most favourable. Since this institution requires large fees, we propose a subscription for six months in advance, to be deposited at the same notary who runs the fund.
Price for the year, from 3 to 6 years, 400 fr.; from 6 to 9, 550 fr.; from 9 to 12, 700 fr.; from 12 to 16, 900 fr."
Gazette nationale, 3 Ventôse, An X
26 February, 1802 (7 Ventôse,An X), Victor Hugo was born in Besançon.
26 February, 1802 (7 Ventôse, An X), a new Constitution was promulgated in Switzerland, on the initiative of Reding.
Alois Reding (1765-1818), Swiss politician, began his career as a soldier in the Spanish army fighting against the French Revolutionary armies. The years 1797-1803 were difficult for the Swiss Confederation. The influx of Revolutionary ideas, successive coups d'etat by unitarians and federalists, attempts to create a Republican government, and the complex diplomatic and military situation in Europe all took their toll on Swiss political life. Indeed Switzerland was highly sought after and consequently fought over by the armies of the coalitions and the French Revolutionary army. Unable to work together, the federalists and unitarians asked First Consul Bonaparte to arbitrate for them and to help them to lay the foundation of the République helvétique proclaimed on 12 April, 1798. The 'Constitution de Malmaison', signed in May 1801 did not stop the conflict, however.
Although approached several times thereafter, Bonaparte remained indifferent, and Reding decided to proclaim a new consitution in February 1802: but this had no more success than that of 1801. In fact, 1802 was to be another year of sterile political debate and popular revolt.
Calm was not restored until the Constitution of 1803, or Acte de Médiation, which sounded the death knell for the republic and marked a return to a federal organisation based on 19 cantons.
Wishing you a very enjoyable, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK:
New on the site
Napoleon in his coronation robes, by Gérard
Press Review
bringing you information about articles published, snippets of information:
- 'Maison Bonaparte' - opening delayed
- Two new web sites accessible from the site, the Maison de Victor Hugo and the Maison de Balzac
Agenda
- exhibition: Gustave Le Gray
- auction: Napoleonic items from the Musée Grevin
- auction: 'The Empire at Fontainebleau'
Just published
- Inside Napoleonic France: State and society in Rouen, 1800-1815
The monthly titles: in February,
- Book of the Month: Napoleone by Luigi Mascilli Migliorini
- In Pictures, The Colossus by Goya
- in the Reading Room, an article by Peter Hicks on the British Navy, 1792-1802
- In the Collectors Corner, a gold leaf from Napoleon's coronation crown
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