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EDITORIAL - NEWS FROM THE DIGITAL FRONTLINE
In France today, thousands of users are unpacking their iPads and the different digital actors are jostling for position, with Numilog, the French publisher Hachette's digital catalogue, on the one hand, accessible from the Apple shop, and Eden-livres, on the other, offering titles by Gallimard, Flammarion, and La Martinière via a separate application.
In the meantime, Google is pursuing its digital « conquest » and has signed a contract the Austrian national library (Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek) to digitise 400,000 out-of-copyright books. And the numbers are huge: a budget of 30 million euros and a project duration of 6 years...
The times they are indeed a changing, what with French or Austrian national treasures being digitised, digital books becoming a reality, and book sales in France dropping and the French teenagers fleeing libraries (and their reading therefore taking a hit)... And for those who do use the new media, new ways of reading are emerging: « bee » reading, popping in and out of pages following links, or « efficient » reading, via resumes and selections despite the fact the number of complete (and complex) works online is increasing exponentially; reading « recommended » by sales platforms. All these ways of taking in information could represent a threat to literary creation and research work, as we become a society of information rather than a society of knowledge, as we read for entertainment rather than to learn more.
That being said, nothing would bring me more pleasure than to discover later that my fears were unfounded... That digital reading will be « more » rather than « less ». And we at the Fondation Napoléon intend to follow that positive line, in the hope that the digital era (with greater access to sources worldwide) will bring better history.
Irène Delage (tr ed. PH)
Head of Documentation
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FONDATION NAPOLEON NEWS
On 15 June, 2010, president Victor-André Masséna, prince d'Essling, and the board of trustees of the Fondation Napoléon, met to welcome two new members, Philippe Bélaval, Councillor of State, Directeur Général des Patrimoines, and Nicolas Georges, Directeur du Livre et de la Lecture, both representatives of the French ministry of Culture and Communication. And it is a return for both men, since they represented the culture ministry on the board in the early years of this century.
During the meeting, the board appointed Laurent Theis, historian and publisher, to the jury for Fondation Napoléon history prizes and research grants. He takes the place of Professor François Crouzet who died earlier this year.
PHD VIVA
On Thursday 17 June, 2010, Jean-Philippe Rey at the Université Lumière Lyon 2 brilliantly defended his PhD thesis «A municipality during the First Empire: Lyon, 1805-1815. The jury comprised Serge Chassagne, president, Laurent Coste, rapporteur, Benoît Bruno, supervisor, Nathalie Petiteau and Thierry Lentz, and they awarded the thesis « à l'unanimité” the accolade «Très honorable». Jean-Philippe Rey received a Fondation Napoléon research grant in 2007. The Fondation Napoléon sends Jean-Philippe Rey its congratulations.
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OBJET D'ART OF THE MONTH
The Cent-Jours standard Eagle of the 6e Régiment des Chasseurs à Cheval
A traditional heraldic symbol, the eagle was adopted in the decree of 10 July, 1804, which stipulated that the seal and arms of the Empire should be: "azure with an antique-style eagle in gold bearing a thunderbolt in its claws, also gold". Associated since the earliest antiquity with military victory, the eagle, the bird of Jupiter (King of the Olympian gods) was the symbol of Imperial Rome. It was also that of the First French Empire.
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WHAT'S ON
Auction: Arts+Objects New Zealand presents "Napoleon's final days"
On 29 June, 2010, a most extraordinary collection of Napoleonic memorabilia will be offered at auction by Auckland-based auction house Art+Object. Consisting of approximately forty items and being in effect an artistic and documentary record of Napoleon's final days on the island of St Helena, this offering constitutes one of the most important collections of artwork and objects associated with a major historic figure ever to be found in Australasia. At the heart of the collection is a lock of Napoleon's hair (contained in a small canister with the inscription by Ibbetson which reads, "Hair of Napoleon the 1st cut off the morning after his death May 1821"), various images of Napoleon on his deathbed and a large panoramic watercolour of Longwood House, Napoleon's residence on St Helena. Viewing opens on Friday 18 June and runs until Thursday 24 June.
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"Industrial Revolutionaries: People who shaped the Modern World"
"Industrial Revolutionaries" is a major new exhibition spanning 150 years of Preston's history, looking at the personalities that helped create the modern world. Delving into the lives of key individuals, and the movements they created, the exhibition reveals their influence, political history and global impact through over seventy objects, including portraits, major loans and key items from the Harris collection. Numerous objects are newly conserved and on display for the first time. Many of the issues that concerned the people of Preston 150 years ago – employee rights, child labour, alcohol and the need for temperance, elections and economic uncertainty – are the very issues that concern us today in 2010.
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NAPOLEONIC NEWS
Discovery of the imperial bathroom at Arenenberg
A bathroom used by Napoleon III has been discovered during work being carried out at the Château d'Arenenberg. The room, which features a 3m long basin, was found below the kitchens and has been described by staff at the Napoleonmuseum as "sensational". The fully-restored baths feature the French emperor's initials and also include heating facilities.
Further details here (in French).
SEEN IN THE PRESS
Histoire Politique: British history edition
Histoire@Politique, the online academic review produced by the Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po, has published a special edition entitled "Monde Britannique 1815-1931" ("The British world 1815 - 1931") (external link). Of particular interest are Karuna Mantena's "The Crisis of Liberal Imperialism", which charts the evolution that British liberal imperialism underwent as different challenges presented themselves in the colonies, and Géraldine Vaughan's "Un empire écossais ? L'Ecosse et le monde britannique, 1815-1931", which reexamines Scotland's role in British historiography, particularly in relation to imperialism and Scottish values within the Empire.
200 YEARS AGO
Fouché attempts to cover his tracks
Having been dismissed from his position as police commissioner for "destabilising" the Empire through his unauthorised peace negotiations with Britain (see bulletin n° 544), Fouché risked enraging Napoleon further by taking an additional three days to, as he described it, "put his affairs in order" before handing over his portfolio to his replacement, Savary. Putting these extra days to good use, he destroyed, hid or removed every file and note that might damage him or help Savary uncover more about the secret negotiations. By 7 June, Fouché had almost completely gutted his offices at Quai Voltaire, leaving Savary almost nothing with which to work. Nevertheless, Fagan's name was uncovered in a list of passport requests and the information passed onto Napoleon, who promptly fired off a letter to the Duc d'Otrante on 17 June:
"I am requesting that you send me the note addressed to you by M. Fagan, whom you dispatched to London to sound out Lord Wellesley, and who returned to you with a response from his lordship of which I have no knowledge." [Letter from Napoleon to Fouché dated 17 June, 1810]
A day later, though, and the French emperor had clearly decided a more forceful approach was necessary, issuing what amounted to little more than a thinly-veiled threat:
"I wrote to you yesterday to ask for the document that M. Fagan brought back from Lord Wellesley. I am writing to you again today to inform you that my wish is that you hand over to me, along with this message, every note, without exception, relative to Ouvrard [whom Napoleon had had arrested shortly after learning of the negotiations], to Labouchère, to Fagan, and to the intelligence that he brought back to you regarding the individuals who were in correspondence between London and Paris during this affair. Understand that it is my right and that it is important to me and to you that every note regarding this affair and others of a similar nature be delivered to me without reserve; in short, you are to hand over to me the portfolio relative to your ministry. I have dispatched my cabinet secretary who will remain with you and return to me all the relative notes." [Letter from Napoleon to Fouché dated 18 June, 1810]
Fouché was not be intimidated, however, and replied that he had destroyed everything, intimating in the same breath, in his own slightly menacing tone, that some of the charred notes may have concerned certain indiscretions involving Napoleon's sisters, Caroline and Pauline. On 1 July, a furious Napoleon, who had initially told Fouché that he would govern in Rome, informed the disgraced minister that he was instead to leave for Aix within twenty-four hours. Fouché, his sang-froid abandoning him, fled for Italy.
150 YEARS AGO
Jerome Napoleon passes away
Over the last couple of months, the Moniteur Universel of 1860 had been keeping the public updated on the health of the last surviving Bonaparte brother, Jerome. Napoleon's youngest brother, having ruled in Westphalia until 1813, returned to France in October 1847 after years of exile. Made governor of Les Invalides (where his brother remains lay) in December 1848 and Maréchal de France in 1850, Jerome was the heir presumptive to the imperial throne for the four years that passed between the restoration of the empire in 1852 and the birth of the Prince Imperial in 1856.
By 1860, Jerome had already been suffering from health problems for a number of years. Initially struck down by flu in March 1858, his recovery was to prove short-lived and by the end of May, 1860, the Moniteur's almost daily updates had taken on a sombre tone.
"His Imperial Highness the Prince Jerome Napoleon's illness has progressed rapidly. The Prince's state [of health] is cause for the greatest of concern."
"Today [23 June] at one o'clock, the Emperor and the Empress went to Villegenis [today Massy]. Their Majesties joined members of the family at H.I.H. the Prince Jerome Napoleon's bedside. During the course of the day, H.I.H. received from his Eminence the Cardinal Bishop of Paris his last rites." [Moniteur Universel, 24 June, 1860]
Jerome passed away in the early hours of the morning on 24 June, leading the Moniteur to announce solemnly on 26 June:
"Providence ensured that the last brother of Emperor Napoleon I did not die without having witnessed the re-establishment of the glorious dynasty that he so loyally served. The nation will join the imperial family in its mourning." [Moniteur Universel, 26 June, 1860]
Jerome is buried at Les Invalides on 3 July, 1860.
Why not take a look at our biography on Jerome?
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FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
Statistic of the week:
400 000: the number of out-of-copyright books to be digitised by Google from the Austrian National Library (Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek).
MAGAZINE
Press review
- Histoire Politique: British history edition (external link)
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Auctions
- Arts+Objects New Zealand presents "Napoleon's final days", Auckland, New Zealand [18/06/2010 - 29/07/2010]
Full details
Exhibitions
- "Industrial Revolutionaries: People who shaped the Modern World", Preston, UK [26/06/2010 - 06/11/2010]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Situated at 148 boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris, the library is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 1pm – 6pm, and Thursday 10am – 3pm.
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