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THIS WEEK'S BULLETIN
Firstly a sumptuous plate from Napoleon's Headquarters service (which even survived the journey to St Helena and back…), then there's a bicentennial conference in Portugal, followed by the photos from last week's Grand Prix. Thereafter, in ‘200 years ago', we bring you ‘Nap the builder' and the Portuguese regent and government fleeing the capital Lisbon before Junot's troops. After that, in Snippets (rather aptly) there's a page of Clisson et Eugénie up for auction, then articles in the Trafalgar Chronicle and Nelson Dispatch. Ever wanted to read the Description of Egypt? Well now you can, provided you can read French, because the mastodontic whole is now on line. To finish there are five new books – Archduke Charles, Napoleon at work, the art of warfare, one of Cabasson's novels now translated into English and a gem of an Osprey explaining clearly to the layman French infantry tactics, with wonderful illustrations… Enjoy!
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THIS MONTH'S OBJECT
Dessert plate from the «Service particulier de l'Empereur» : "Le prytanée de Saint-Cyr" by N.-A. Lebel
In 1807, Napoleon ordered from the Sèvres manufactory a service for his own personal use, the "Service particulier de l'Empereur". This famous service, better known as the "Headquarters" service, is remarkable not only for its quality and beauty but also for the role which Napoleon played in making it.
© Fondation Napoléon
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COMMEMORATION
Study Days in commemoration of the departure of the Portuguese Royal Family for Brazil, 1807-2007
In Western Europe, the year 1807 was marked by the descent of Napoleon's troops upon the Iberian Peninsula. Spain and Portugal were to suffer the serious consequences of this military and political action. The first consequence was the transformation of a neighbouring country into a predatory force ready to occupy the country and capture the king himself. All Portugal's forces prepared themselves to defend the kingdom, and the king contemplated flight to Brazil.
These study days, organised in Lisbon by Portugal's Science, Navy, Geographical and History Academies, are a study and commemoration of those crucial times.
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FONDATION NAPOLEON NEWS
Fondation History prizes and research grants 2007
The annual Fondation Napoléon History Prizes 2007 for books on the two French empires are to be presented at a lunch on 19 November, 2007, in the presence of HIH the Princess Napoléon. This year the prizes were awarded to Pierre Branda for his book Le prix de la gloire. Napoléon et l'argent, to Thomas Munch-Petersen for his book Defying Napoleon, and to Bernard and Danielle Quintin, for their lives' work.
For further information:
- History Prizes 2007
- Research Grants 2007
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200 YEARS AGO
Nap the builder
On 23 November, 1807, Napoleon gave the order to the Director of Ponts et Chaussées (Bridges and Roads), Jean-Pierre de Montalivet, to create a new commune at the top of Mount Cenis (Northern Alps). It was to be made up of three hamlets and the inhabitants were to come from La Ferrière and Novalèse. As usual, Napoleon planned the project in great detail, even dictating housing styles: “None of this should be built in the Parisian style but rather according to the fashion of those who live in the mountains, this way the affair will not cost too much.” (Correspondence n° 13366)
Portugal
The 25,000 troops commanded by generals Junot, Dupont and Moncey entered Lisbon on 30 November, 1807, having faced no opposition from Portuguese troops. The organs of state however were no longer there. Following a decision taken in the Portuguese Council of State on 24 November, the Royal family, the government and the navy left the capital on 29 November in the teeth of a gale in a giant flotilla including the Portuguese Atlantic fleet (8 ships of the line, 3 frigates and three brigs), a massive flotilla of commercial and civilian vessels, and a British squadron under Admiral Sidney Smith. The regent not only took with him the entire treasury but also the war and foreign ministry archives and the royal printing presses. The guns in the batteries dominating the estuary had been spiked, making it impossible for Junot to stop the regent's flight. The French general's mission had already been compromised.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 435, 23 - 29 November, 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 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
Snippets
- First page of Napoleon's novel, Clisson et Eugénie, up for auction
Press Review
- Trafalgar Chronicle: Yearbook of the 1805 Club, No. 17, 2007
- The Nelson Dispatch, vol. 9, Part 8, October 2007
Seen on the web
The description of Egypt produced by the army of scholars which accompanied Napoleon's 'expedition to Egypt' in its entirety online.
Just Published
- The Officer's Prey (novel), by Armand Cabasson
- French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792–1815, by Paddy Griffith, Peter Dennis
- Napoleon's great adversary: Archduke Charles and the Austrian army, 1792-1814, by Gunther E. Rothenberg
- The art of warfare in the age of Napoleon, by Gunther E. Rothenberg
- Napoleon at work, by Colonel Vachée
WHAT'S ON
Conferences:
- Monarchy and Exile, London, UK
Exhibitions:
- The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, Lorient, France
- Indispensable nécessaires, Reuil-Malmaisons, France
- Désiré's photographs of the Suez canal, Musée de la Marine, Paris, France
- Gustave Courbet's works, Grand Palais, Paris, France
- 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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