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IN THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN
We bring you first the sumptuous two-volume set on Napoleonic prisoners, hulks, prisons and artefacts, written by Clive Lloyd. Readers of this bulletin can get a 10% reduction from the publishers if they quote the “Napoleon.org Bulletin” when purchasing the box set (UK readers can also get free P&P, which is particularly interesting given the weight of the two books!). If you're in Italy this weekend, why not visit the extravaganza in commemoration of the Second Empire/Risorgimento Battle of Magenta. Then there's our usual articles in 200 and 150 years ago (Napoleon on research into ‘croup', Flaubert on Madame Bovary and Ferdinand de Lesseps successfully selling his Suez Canal idea to a group of British northerners…)
Enjoy your read.
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THIS MONTH'S BOOK
LLOYD Clive, A History of Napoleonic and American Prisoners of War 1756-1816; Hulk, Depot and Parole and The Arts and Crafts of Napoleonic and American Prisoners of War 1756 - 1816
Thousands of books have been published about war while the role of the prisoner of war has been largely ignored. This sumptuous box set of two volumes admirably fills the gap. Beautifully illustrated and with detailed commentary, both volumes book are an eloquent testimony to the prisoners' experience and to their extraordinary artefacts.
© Antique Collectors' Club
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THE 148th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA
As they gradually work up to the ‘big one', the commune of Magenta is organising its annual commemoration of the Battle of Magenta, including, markets, book presentations, concerts, masses, wreath laying and a football tournament. Something for everyone…
© Comune di Magenta
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CONFERENCE ON FRANCO-PERSIAN RELATIONS IN PARIS
On the occasion of the bicentenary of the signature of the Franco-Persian treaty at the Finkenstein château on 4 May, 1807, the International Qajar Studies association (IQSA) is organising a conference under the aegis of the Fondation Napoléon at the Bibliothèque Marmottan (Boulogne Billancourt).
© qajarstudies.org
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200 YEARS AGO
On learning that Hortense's son had died of the infant respiratory problem croup (see Bulletin n°414), Napoleon wrote on the subject to Champagny on 4 June, 1807: «In the last twenty years a disease called croup has appeared, and it kills many children in northern Europe. It has been spreading into France over the last few years. I would like you to offer a prize of 12,000 francs to the doctor who writes the best paper on the disease and on how to treat it. » (Correspondance n°12717)
Paris, 2 June, 1807. "Several years ago three sides of the church of Saint-Sulpice (east, north and west) were revealed by demolition work. Now the southern side facing the Luxembourg gardens, which was masked by a row of houses almost touching the church, has been exposed. The demolition work is proceeding in a circular manner from the square in front of the old seminary up to the Rue des fossoyeurs, and when finished the magnificent structure will be completely revealed.” (Journal de l'Empire 3 June, 1807)
150 YEARS AGO
On 4 June, 1857, Flaubert wrote a letter to a reader concerning his novel Madame Bovary : «Sir, I had no model pose before me. Madame Bovary is a pure invention. All the characters in this book are completely imaginary, and Yonville-l'Abbaye is itself a town which does not exist, just like Rieulle, etc. But this has not prevented the people here in Normandy from trying to detect in my novel a host of allusions. If I had done so, my portraits would have been less accurate, because I would have had specific characters in mind when what I wanted to do was the opposite, namely, to reproduce types. » (Croisset, 4 June, 1857)
For more on Madame Bovary, see our Flaubert trial Dossier
6 June, 1857, the Moniteur reported that “Ferdinand de Lesseps has visited the north east of England (on 28 May) and spoken for about one and a half hours in Newcastle Guild Hall on his plan to excavate the Suez Canal. […] The meeting unanimously agreed that a Suez Canal would be much better than going round the Cape of Good Hope. […] They also voted that the MPs for Newcastle and Gateshead should present the minutes of the meetings to the Board of Trade in London, for the Suez Canal would be of great importance to Britain. […] Monsieur de Lesseps was heartily thanked” (Moniteur universel, 6 June, 1857). Having received an initial concession for the digging and use of a canal through the Suez isthmus on 30 November, 1854, De Lesseps in June 1857 was in fact preparing the ground for his floatation of Suez Canal company later in November of the same year.
Why no (re-)visit our special dossier on De Lesseps and the Suez Canal
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 418, 1 - 7 June, 2007
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© 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 the Fondation Napoléon.
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Got a problem with a link in the Bulletin? Go to the homepage: http://www.napoleon.org
THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
Press Review
- The Nelson Dispatch, volume 9, Part 6, April 2007
WHAT'S ON
Theatre:
- The Imperial Epic by Caran d'Ache, Paris, France
Re-enactments:
- 148th anniversary of the Battle of Magenta (MI) Italy
- Re-enactment of the Battle of Rivoli, 1797-2007
Conferences:
- Diplomats and Travellers in and from Qajar Persia, Paris, France
- Napoleon at the Zenith: a bi-centennial seminar, Liverpool, UK
Exhibitions:
- The Polish and the Légion d'honneur, Paris, France
- People, portraits, places and the abolition of the Slave trade, National Portrait gallery, London, UK
- Napoleon's Description de L'Egypte, Dallas, Texas, USA
- Napoleon, Trikolore und Kaiseradler über Rhein und Weser, Wesel and Minden, Germany
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
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