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EDITORIAL
This week we bring you a new exhibition (in Texas, USA) of engravings of Egypt made by Napoleon's own expedition, two re-enactments (one in the Netherlands and the other in Italy), a Napoleonic war gaming society on the net, three interesting books (one an eyewitness account of the Crimean War, another a new edition of Clausewitz's fundamental text on war, and lastly a book by a young scholar on pre-Victorian lack of decorum). The new Book of the Month is by the British 18th century expert, T. C. W. Blanning. In Napoleonic Pages, we present a classic of Napoleonic historiography (Gonnard's work on St Helena), and we also bring you news of a generous donation made recently on the island itself. Finally, you have the usual bulletin columns "200" and "150 years ago", which include a link to the full text version of Gautier's still-read thriller, The Romance of the Mummy.
Enjoy!
Peter Hicks
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THIS MONTH'S BOOK
BLANNING T.C.W., Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815
In "The Pursuit of Glory", Tim Blanning brings to life one of the most extraordinary and dynamic periods in Europe's history: from the desolate, battered and introvert continent of the end of the Thirty Years War to the overwhelmingly dynamic one that experienced the French Revolution and the wars of Napoleon. How did people really live their lives? How did they understand their world? What did they buy? What did they eat? How did they pray? What were their loyalties and their values? […] Blanning explores this era of immense change, and cultural, political and technological ferment. […] It was a time of immense expenditure - as much on clothes, banquets and palaces as on fortresses and artillery - which shaped the societies and economies of entire countries.
(c) Allen Lane
And if you read French, don't forget to have look at the Book of the Month on the French side of the site. This month it's on Napoleon and Spain.
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NAPOLEONIC PAGES
Philippe Gonnard: Les origines de la légende napoléonienne: l'oeuvre historique de Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène, Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1906, published in English translation as The exile of St Helena: the last phase in fact and fiction, London, Heinemann, 1909 (Article by LHEUREUX-PRÉVOT Chantal, trans. P.H.)
Gonnard's book started life as his PhD thesis, and it was to remain a work of reference, both in positive and negative terms, for all those studying the Napoleon myth and Napoleonic historiography. Rediscover a masterpiece by a giant of early 20th-century Napoleonic world.
© Fondation Napoléon
Why not revisit the other Napoleonic Pages?
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GENEROUS DONATION OF LAND SURROUNDING «THE BRIARS» ON ST HELENA
We all remember how when Napoleon arrived on St Helena in the winter of 1815 he lodged with the Balcombe family at “The Briars”, before taking up residence at “Longwood”. Until last week, the land surrounding the “Briars” house and estate belonged to French Consul on St Helena, Michel Dancoisne-Martineau. In a short ceremony at the St Helena Legal and Lands Department in Essex House, however, he donated the land to the St Helena National Trust in the hope that it would be made into a tourist attraction, thereby preserving this beautiful site with its heart-shaped waterfall for future generations.
Source: The St Helena Independent, vol. II, issue 16, 23 March, 2007
© The St Helena Independent
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THE TREASURES OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON IN GERMANY
On 9 April the exhibition «Napoleon, Trikolore und Kaiseradler über Rhein und Weser», where a good number of pieces from the Fondation Napoléon's collection are currently on show, is to close in Wesel. It is however to re-open on 6 May for a further two months in the Preussen Museum's second site in the town of Minden.
© Preussen-Museum NRW
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200 YEARS AGO
On 1 April, 1807, Napoleon set up his headquarters in the Château at Finckenstein Finkenstein. he was to stay there for two months. «I have just moved my headquarters to a very fine château, rather like the one which belongs to Bessières. Here I have many fireplaces, and this is something I like very much; since I often get up in the night, I like to see a fire burning».
(Letter to Josephine, 1 April, 1807, Correspondence n°12263)
Vivant Denon, director general of the Musée de Napoléon (later the Louvre) published a competition for the painting of work immortalising the Battle of Eylau, since the battle itself was considered as «an event which occupies a signal place in history». The subject of the painting was not to be the battle but rather the day after it when «the Emperor, visiting the battlefield, brought assistance to all and sundry». (Moniteur, 2 April, 1807)
It was Gros's proposal which won.
On 4 April, 1807, the French astronomer Jérôme de Lalande died in Paris at the age of 74.
Lalande was born in Bourg-en-Bresse on 11 July, 1732, and it was while he was studying law at Paris that he met the astronomer Delisle. He decided to frequent Delisle's lectures at the Collège de France and finally decided to change career after a brief period as a lawyer. He then moved to Berlin to look after the observatory there and to study the lunar parallax. His remarkable work brought him the attention of the German scientific world and he was elected to the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1753. He was then to work on the planets in the solar system, publishing a new edition of Halley's tables in 1759. In 1762 he replaced Delisle in the chair of astronomy at the Collège de France. He was a larger than life character who retained his enthusiasm for astronomy right to the end of his life. His militant atheism however brought upon him the hostility of Napoleon.
150 YEARS AGO
On 1 April, 1857, Theodelinde de Wurtemberg, first cousin of Napoleon III, died in Stuttgart. Theodelinde was born in 1814, the fifth child of Eugène de Beauharnais (1783-1824). In 1841, she married count Frederick William, son of the duke William of Wurtemberg and had four daughters.
(Moniteur Universel, 4 April, 1857)
For the detailed genealogy of the Beauharnais family, visit our genealogical page
On 5 April, 1857, the newspaper, L'Artiste began a "new series" in which it printed its "Gallery of the 19th Century", a series of portraits accompanied by 'critical' biographical sketches. The first figure to be featured was Ingres, portrait engraved by A. Masson with a sketch by Théophile Gautier. A month earlier, Théophile Gautier had begun publishing in serial form his famous novel the Roman de la Momie, published in book form in 1858. The English translation, by Anne T. Wilbur, of The Romance of a Mummy can be read online at the following link http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a2849.pdf.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 409, 30 March - 5 April, 2007
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation.
© this Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of theFondation Napoléon.
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THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
Just published:
- Mrs Duberly's War: Journal and Letters from the Crimea, 1854-6, by Frances Isabella Duberly, ed. Christine Kelly
- New edition of On War, by Carl von Clausewitz, Ed. Beatrice Heuser, trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret
- Decency and Disorder: The Age of Cant, by Ben Wilson
Web sites:
- The web site of the Portsmouth Napoleonic society
Go to Napoleonic Directory and select "Wargaming" in the websites scroll bar menu.
WHAT'S ON
Re-enactments:
- Re-enactment of the Battle of Nieuwleusen, Nieuwleusen, Netherlands
- Re-enactment of the Battle of Rivoli, 1797-2007, Rivoli, Italy
Fairs:
- The 14th International Napoleonic Fair, Cressing Temple, UK
Conferences:
- Napoleon at the Zenith: a bi-centennial seminar, Liverpool, UK
Exhibitions:
- Napoleon's Description de L'Egypte, Dallas, Texas, USA
- Napoleon, Trikolore und Kaiseradler über Rhein und Weser, Wesel and Minden, Germany
- NAPOLÉON An Intimate Portrait, Oklahoma, USA
- Das Königreich Württemberg 1806–1918. Monarchie und Moderne (The kingdom of Württemberg 1806–1918. Monarchy and modernity), Stuttgart, Germany
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
Got a problem with the letter? Try the home page: http://www.napoleon.org
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