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THIS WEEK'S LETTER
The year rolls on and into November we march. The days here in Paris are getting shorter, but that doesn't mean that the letters will do likewise. First off, we have the painting of the month for November, which for November is Supper offered by Emperor Napoleon III to Queen Victoria in the salle de l'Opéra, Château de Versailles, 25 August 1855 by Eugène Lami. Secondly, we have some information about the publication of Volume 5 of the General Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte. You will have also received a special edition of the bulletin this week, dedicated entirely to the release, but it is such an important project that it deserves a little mention here too. Thirdly, this week's recommended article from Napoleonica. La Revue is The Creation of the Imperial Nobility by Rafe Blaufarb. To round things off, we have some more information for you about the first in our series of study days, called the Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon, which takes place this month, and the usual glance at what was going on 200 and 150 years ago. In the column on the right you will also find a handy reminder of this week's newest books as well as details of the major exhibitions taking place at the moment.
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NOVEMBER'S PAINTING OF THE MONTH
Supper offered by Emperor Napoleon III to Queen Victoria in the salle de l'Opéra, Château de Versailles, 25 August 1855
Queen Victoria's official visit to Paris, for the opening of the Universal Exhibition in 1855, confirmed the re-establishment of cordial and close relations between France and Britain. The queen was greatly enthused by the beauty of the French capital, and was equally impressed by the splendour of the Imperial Court. This was particularly evident at the supper organised in the Salle de l'Opéra at the Château de Versailles on 25 August. Victoria commented, again in her journal, that it was one of the most beautiful and majestic evenings that they had ever attended. The watercolour painting by Eugène Lami has preserved this beautifully-lit supper scene for posterity.
© RMN
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THE GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
Volume 5 released
As you may have noticed from our special edition newsletter, the big release of Volume 5 of the General Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte is upon us. Dealing with Napoleon's letters sent during the rather busy year of 1805 (year of the camps at Bourgogne, the battle of Trafalgar and the French victory at Austerlitz), Volume 5 continues the Fondation's "epoch-making" correspondence project that by 2012 will have collated, annotated and published more than 36,000 letters of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The letters are arranged chronologically, annotated by Napoleonic historians and accompanied by studies that clarify sets of themes developed in Napoleon's correspondence. A series of appendices (maps, conversion tables and a timeline) and three indexes complete the volumes. As well as essential tools in Napoleonic research, these volumes make for fascinating reading and serve to enrich immeasurably our understanding of the workings and personality of Napoleon Bonaparte from the end of the Ancien Régime to the Empire.
Click here to read the introduction to volume 5, written by Michel Kerautret and Gabriel Madec.
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
No bulletin would be complete without another selection from Napoleonica. La Revue, the Fondation's academic and multidisciplinary review, and so this week we propose Rafe Blaufarb's article entitled The Creation of the Imperial Nobility. Professor Blaufarb is Director of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University in Tallahassee, with which the Fondation has a general partnership agreement. A single article goes for the very reasonable sum of 7 €, while an annual subscription will lighten your wallet by just 60 €, giving you access to all forthcoming and back issues of the review for a full year.
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LES ATELIERS DE LA FONDATION NAPOLEON
Coming up on Tuesday 25 November is the first of the Fondation's study days, the aim of which is to give the general public the opportunity to participate in relaxed, constructive and instructive debate and discussion on Napoleonic topics. The first study day is called "Autour de quelque chefs-d'oeuvre de la peinture napoléonienne" ("The Masterpieces of Napoleonic Art") and takes place at the Bibliothèque Paul Marmottan in Boulogne-Bilancourt. The day starts at 10am and will go on until 4pm.
Click here for more information and a programme of the discussions that will take place.
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200 YEARS AGO
Casualties of war
Now personally overseeing the campaign in Spain, Napoleon's preparations for his army and, in particular, the anticipated campaign casualties, continued without respite. In a letter to Alexandre, Prince de Neuchatel, he ordered the clear-out of a number of local Spanish hospitals: "My cousin, my intention is that all the hospitals between Tolosa and Vitoria be evacuated, in order to make space for the injured that will result from the battles to come [...] [Tolosa and St. Sebastian] will be readied to each receive 300 injured. The hospital at Vitoria will be readied to receive 1,500 injured." As well as this, he also reiterated to Alexandre how important it was that "...none of the transport wagons be used to carry baggage or packs [...] They must all be used to transport the army's biscuit rations, and, after battle, to help evacuate the injured." (Letter from Napoleon to Alexandre, Prince de Neuchatel dated 7 November 1808, Correspondance n° 14447)
150 YEARS AGO
The project begins...
The first volume of the Correspondance de Napoléon Ier was published in Paris by Henri Plon and J. Dumaine. The Moniteur dedicated a large part of its 8 November edition to the release of this collection. "We do not have Alexander's conquest journal; Caesar's commentaries, in all their ancient brevity, contain nothing but the Gallic Wars, which are less action and more narrative; only a few letters of Charlemagne remain [...] Here, available to us for the first time, is the life's work of a 'man of creation' in all its entirety: his daily thoughts, his deliberations, his decisions, his struggles, his woes. How can humanity be deprived of such an event?"
[Le Moniteur, 8 November 1858]
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Hamish Davey Wright
Historian and web-editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 473, 7 November - 13 November, 2008
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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THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Autumn and winter opening times:
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: 1pm-6pm
Thursday: 10am-3pm
(Closed Friday)
THE MAGAZINE
Just published
November's book of the month (English)
- Richard Harding (ed.), A Great & Glorious Victory - New perspectives on the Battle of Trafalgar
November's book of the month (French)
- Jacques-Olivier Boudon, Le Roi Jérôme, frère prodigue de Napoléon
- Michel Kerautret & Gabriel Madec (eds.), La Correspondance générale de Napoléon Bonaparte, volume 5: Boulogne, Trafalgar, Austerlitz 1805
- J. David Markham, The Road to St. Helena: Napoleon after Waterloo (with book review by independent scholar Thomas Zacharis)
WHAT'S ON
Conferences
- Les Ateliers de la Fondation Napoléon: "The Masterpieces of Napoleonic Art", Paris (France), 25 November 2008
- Portugal, Brazil and Napoleonic Europe, Lisbon (Portugal) from 4 to 6 December, 2008
Film
- Centro Romano di Studi Napoleonici: Napoleonic film week 2008, Rome (Italy) from 11 to 14 November, 2008
Exhibitions
- "Ben Weider Collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts", Montreal, Canada [Permanent]
Full details
- "Napoleon Bonaparte and Egypt", Paris, France [14/10/2008 - 29/03/2009]
Full details
- "Between the dagger and the cross", Paris, France [21/10/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "From Pompei to Malmaison", Rueil-Malmaison, France [22/10/2008 - 26/01/2009]
Full details
- "Jerome Napoleon, king of Westphalia", Fontainebleau, France [10/10/2008 - 08/01/2009]
Full details
- "Paper Landscapes, a celebration of Napoleonic cartography", La Spezia, Italy [04/10/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "Fine people. Luxury and Fashion at the Time of the Empire", Erfurt, Germany [14/09/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "Spectacle of Power. Rituals in Old Europe 800-1800", Magdeburg, Germany [23/09/2008 - 04/01/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleonic side-arms of the Rocca d'Acquaviva", Acquaviva Picena, Italy [04/10/2008 - 31/12/2008]
Full details
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