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THIS WEEK IN THE BULLETIN
We bring you this week Holger Hoock's edited book on the remembrance, commemoration and the celebration of historical anniversaries, with reference to Trafalgar but also to Austerlitz. Then there's a fun Bonaparte stroll in the southern French town of Valence (where the young artilleryman began his literary career…). To follow, there's a presentation of the huge exhibition of the paintings of Courbet, currently in Paris but soon to travel to the US. Then we highlight a fascinating conference on monarchical culture and the idea of exile, to be held in London in December. After some theatrical highlights and the marriage of Napoleon's secretary Meneval 200 years ago, there's a committee of Murat celebration in southern Italy, an article on the Anti-Jacobin newspaper, and two new books, one on life at sea and the other the education of women in 19th-century England and France.
Enjoy!
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THIS MONTH'S BOOK
History, Commemoration, and National Preoccupation: Trafalgar 1805-2005, ed. Holger Hoock
This innovative work in the history of memory takes the battle of Trafalgar as the starting point for an exploration of the complex notions of remembrance, honouring and celebration. The ways in which we memorialize key moments of national identity constantly evolve. This allows historians to study cultural meanings and interpretations of national identity and encourages them to engage critically with ‘public history'.
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A “BONAPARTE PROMENADE” IN VALENCE, FRANCE
The town of Valence, where Napoleon Bonaparte took up his post as “lieutenant en second” in November 1785, has paid homage to the great man by organising a special 21-point “Bonaparte promenade” marked out in the streets of the town.
Read all about it.
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EXHIBITION: COURBET (1819-1877) AT THE GRAND PALAIS, PARIS
This exhibition, organised to coincide with the 130th anniversary of the painter's death, presents 120 paintings, about 30 graphic works and some 60 photographs in an area of 1500 square metres. Since 1977 (when the last major monograph exhibition on Courbet was held in Paris) extensive research in France and abroad has enabled us to re-evaluate Courbet's (1819-1857) oeuvre in the context of the art of 1840-1860. The exhibition will be an opportunity for a new generation to discover the work of a painter who was a major figure in the history of nineteenth-century art in all its breadth and diversity.
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CONFERENCE: MONARCHY AND EXILE
The Society for Court Studies and the German Historical Institute London is organising a conference on 'Monarchy in Exile' to be held 14 and 15 December 2007, at the German Historical Institute London. Monarchical culture is now being explored from many new angles. Particular emphasis has been laid on the interaction between monarchy and the public. The transformation of monarchical rule into representative duty, the popularisation of reigning families as part of the public image of monarchy and the attempts to re-invent monarchical culture at the end of the nineteenth century have provided us with a much more complex picture than the traditional paradigm of monarchical decline.
Click here for further information.
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200 YEARS AGO
Theatre
The Journal de Paris of 6 October, 1807, reported that: «At the Théâtre Français, there was a crowd to see Mademoiselle Mars return to the stage after the holidays in La Gouvernante and Madame de Sévigné. The public revealed the pleasure they had from the return of this charming actress by giving her four or five curtain calls…» The Courrier de l'Europe went even further: «It is generally agreed that she is perfect in her genre; that no one could match her for her performance as an ingenue, for her grace and for her ability to deliver great lines well.»
See our biography of Mademoiselle Mars and an article on Napoleon and the theatre.
On 5 October, 1807, monsieur Meneval, the emperor's private secretary, married Aimée Virginie Joséphine Comte de Montvernot, cousin of Auguste Comte, at both civil and religious ceremonies. The church wedding took place at midnight in the Parisian church of Saint Roch. The Courrier de l'Europe et des Spectacles dated 8 October, 1807, reported the rumour that «the Emperor had not only signed the marriage contract but also given the couple a very fine wedding present.»
See our biography of Meneval.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 428, 5 - 11 October, 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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NOTA BENE: PARTIAL CLOSURE OF THE ARCHIVES OF THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFRAIRS (MAE)
The archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) are soon to leave the Quai d'Orsay (autumn 2008) to be re-sited in the diplomatic complex under construction at La Courneuve on the outskirts of Paris.
In the preparation for this change, users of the Paris reading room will be faced with certain restrictions, namely, the archives will be closed in the first ten days of every month and certain documents will be no longer accessible.
For further information, please ring +33 (0)1 43 17 52 68
THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
SNIPPETS
- Creation of a Committee for the Murat Bicentennial 1808-2008
PRESS REVIEW
- "The Anti-Jacobin Revisited: Newly Identified Contributions to the Anti-Jacobin Review during the Editorial Regime of John Gifford, 1798–1806", by Emily Lorraine de Montluzin, in The Library 2003 vol. 4
JUST PUBLISHED
- MOSTERT Noel, The Line upon a wind. An Intimate History of the Last and Greatest War Fought at Sea Under Sail: 1793—1815
- BELLAIGUE Christina de, Educating Women: Schooling and Identity in England and France, 1800-1867
WHAT'S ON
Conferences:
- Italian and French architectural culture in the Napoleonic period: professional and stylistic problems, Rome, Italy
- The idea of the antique in the French decade, Naples, Italy
- Napoleon Historical Society, Annual Conference, Chicago, USA
- Napoleonic Association Autumn Conference, London, UK
Exhibitions:
- Nine hundred years of miniatures at the Château d'Arenenberg, Arenenberg, Switzerland - closes next week
- Empress Josephine's Malmaison Collection, Somerset House, London, UK
- At the court of Louis Napoleon, first King of Holland (1806-1810), Paris, France
- 1807-2007: 200 years of economic life and consular justice, Paris, France
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
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