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IN THE LETTER THIS WEEK...
... we have the first instalment of Napoleon I's very own memoirs as our new book of the month. Often ignored in preference for the Las Cases' Mémorial, this edition of Napoleon's own words comes with two introductions from Thierry Lentz, director here at the Fondation Napoléon. Turning to art, and more precisely, the orientalist trend in European art during the long 19th century, is the new exhibition recently opened at the Museum of Modern Art in Brussels, Belgium. And for those with an eye on the Peninsular War bicentenary this year, there is a new exhibition taking place at the University of Southampton called "'Victory searches for her son': defending Spain and Portugal against Napoleon, 1810". We also have a short article on a number of new acquisitions for the Napoleonic Residences on Elba, as the Elban museums (with Fondation Napoléon participation) start gearing up for Napoleon Elba 2014, as well as a quick look at the new issues of History Today and First Empire magazines. Finally, as is our wont, we bring the letter to an end with 200 and 150 years ago, which this week takes a look at Napoleon and the press, and Napoleon III's book on Julius Caesar. In the Magazine we are delighted to bring you a report of an exhibition very kindly sent to us by Alfonso Alejo, officer in the Napoleonic Historical Society.
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BOOK OF THE MONTH
Mémoires de Napoléon: la Campagne d'Italie, with an introduction by Thierry Lentz
During the last years of his life, Napoleon set to dictating his memoirs. These texts should not, however, be confused with the memoirs published by his companions in exile, the success of which has often seen the French emperor's own account of his life left in the dark. Conscious of the remarkable nature of his career, he was not about to let anyone but himself recount and interpret his story. And so for more than five years, on the tiny island of Saint Helena, he oversaw a veritable factory dedicated to the production of history. This release is the first instalment in the three-volume republication of Napoleon's memoirs.
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WHAT'S ON
"From Delacroix to Kandinsky: Orientalism in Europe", Brussels, Belgium
This exhibition presents a survey of European Orientalist art during the long 19th century (1798-1914). Desert landscapes enduring the heat of the sun, female silhouettes, shown either very discreetly or, on the contrary, in all their sensuality, craftsmen surrounded by an abundance of colours and textures… A broad variety of themes invites visitors on a journey through exotic worlds where fantasy and reality meet. Orientalist paintings, drawings and sculptures were fostered by increased mobility, by contemporary scientific views, by political interests and by a sense of romanticism. All these elements indicate how the West perceived the eastern world.
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"'Victory searches for her son': defending Spain and Portugal against Napoleon, 1810", Southampton, UK
As part of the Peninsular War bicentenary celebrations, the University of Southampton's Hartley Library is hosting a new exhibition, which takes a look at two of the key moments in the campaign - the Lines of Torres Vedras and the Battle of Buçaco - as well as Britain's relationship with Spain and Portugal. The exhibition runs from 27 October to 10 December, 2010 and is open to the general public.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
New furnishings for the National Museums of the Napoleonic Residences on Elba
On 26 September, 2010, as part of the European heritage days, new acquisitions to the National Museums of the Napoleonic Residences on Elba were presented to the public. These new furnishings were purchased by the Pisa and Livorno local government heritage departments and are to be installed in the National Museums of the Napoleonic Residences on Elba. The items were presented and mounted in a temporary exhibition in a special press conference - part of the European Heritage Days programme - before finding their permanent home in the rooms lived in by Napoleon during the "three hundred days" of rule on Elba.
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PRESS REVIEW
History Today & First Empire
The latest issue of History Today features the story of the Pentrich Rebellion in 1817, as a group of stocking-makers, stonemasons, ironworkers and labourers rose against the government in England's last attempted revolution. And in the November/December issue of First Empire, there are articles on the Battles of Zakharina and Caulk's Field, The Frasnes Letter, the 9th foot 'East Norfolk' and General Gaspard Gourgaud to keep you interested.
200 YEARS AGO
Napoleon and the press
The Consulate and Empire periods were marked by strict surveillance and heavy-handed censure of the press. Although begun in January 1800 (decree of 27 nivôse an VIII to be exact) with a purge that reduced the number of authorised newspapers to thirteen (a survival rate of roughly one in four), by 1810, it was clear that the French government was once again preparing to 'reorganise' the press. Savary, the police minister, in particular envisioned the amalgamation of two papers - the Publiciste and the Gazette de France -, arguing that it would be easier to watch over and control one newspaper than two. As usual, however, Napoleon's thirst for details and grand plans for another paper, the Mercure, meant more work for the Duc de Rovigo.
"Your work that you gave me on the French newspapers is not complete and [therefore] does not enable me to make a decision. You do not give me 1° to whom the twelve twelfths of the Journal de l'Empire belong, or to whom the different parts of the Publiciste, the Gazette de France, the Journal de Paris and others still, belong; 2° an assessment of each newspaper from 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809 and 1810, receipts and expenditures, and the profit split. This information is essential to order to understand each newspaper's value.
As for the Mercure, I do not wish to spend 48,000 Francs for this newspaper. That would be like buying 1,000 subscriptions. Ensure that I am informed of to whom it belongs, who administers it and how it is administered, for the administration of the printing costs, the paper and other details is of considerable importance. Only then will it be possible to promote this newspaper, not by paying a fixed sum but by taking out subscriptions. As soon as I have this information, I shall give my orders for the Mercure, which can easily be made useful and relevant, and from which a good deal of profit can be made. As it is only printed once a week, it can offer a summary of the week's news, an extract of the English papers that arrive during the week, the week's rumours and their rebuttal; this will inevitably give it great relevance. [...]
The first concern for the Mercure should be to fulfil its role in the provinces far from all other newspapers. It should be offering a summary of the political, administrative and military news. But this is not the case, and an individual in the provinces who has only the Mercure knows nothing of what is happening and what is known of the world elsewhere.
With today's newspapers concerned with serialised stories and half their pages full of articles about literature, a newspaper which appears but once a week cannot not compete, unless it takes advantage of its ability to offer a more coherent, mature and composed presentation of the news." [Letter from Napoleon to General Savary, Duc de Rovigo, dated 31 October, 1810, n° 17090, Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, Second Empire edition]
The proposed fusion of the Gazette and the Publiciste went through a short time afterwards, although by early 1811, ownership of the paper had been seized by the government, clearly concerned by its content and loyalty to the regime.
150 YEARS AGO
Personal projects
After the rigours of a visit to Savoy, Nice, Corsica and Algeria and an exceedingly complicated political situation (both within France and in Italy) the imperial couple turned their minds to different projects. The Emperor was to retire to his study at Saint Cloud to write (with Mérimée's help) a book on Caesar's Gallic Wars (Prosper Mérimée, Correspondance générale, vol. 4, letter dated 23 October, 1860: "There was much talk of Caesar and his deeds"; and the next morning: "I spoke at great length with the emperor, particularly regarding ancient history and Caesar".) In the second week of November 1860, the Emperor and Mérimée were to visit to Roman sites in France and to perform experiments with Roman war machines (Mérimée, op. cit., letter dated 5 November, 1860). Mérimée was astounded at how Napoleon easily picked up scholarly issues in subjects in which he had only recently become interested.
This research was later to become a two-volume set entitled History of Julius Caesar, itself a very modern work with its mixture of antiquity, archaeology and history of science recounting the history of Rome and its military technology, tracing the life of Julius Caesar, paraphrasing Caesar's Gallic Wars, and setting the whole into a contemporary French context.
And this open homage to the great classical dictator (and en passant to his uncle) was a veiled plea for political unity and all-party support for the Emperor, as Louis-Napoleon underlined in the preface to the publication, produced five years later (although the preface was dated 20 March, 1862): [T]he aim [of this book] is to prove that, when divine Providence calls on men such as Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon [and by inference, Napoleon III, ed.], it is to show their peoples the way that they must follow, to leave the mark of their genius on a new era, and accomplish in but a few years several centuries' work. Happy are the people who understand them and follow them!".
As for the Empress Eugénie, she was planning a secret visit to Scotland. The death of her sister, the Duchess of Alba, on 16 September, 1860 - news of which the French emperor hid from his wife during their official visit to Algeria - deeply affected her, and it was hoped that a journey to Scotland in November would improve her spirits!
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 558, 29 – 4 November, 2010
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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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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
7.46 million Apple iPads have been sold worldwide since its (US) release in April.
MAGAZINE
Book of the month
- Mémoires de Napoléon: la Campagne d'Italie, with an introduction by Thierry Lentz
PRESS REVIEW
- First Empire, issue n° 115, November/December 2010
- History Today November 2010
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.
Exhibitions
- "From Delacroix to Kandinsky: Orientalism in Europe", Brussels, Belgium
[15/10/2010 - 09/01/2011]
Full details
- "'Victory searches for her son': defending Spain and Portugal against Napoleon, 1810", Southampton, UK
[27/10/2010 - 10/12/2010]
Full details
- "Staging Power. Napoleon. Karl Johan. Alexander", Stockholm, Sweden [30/09/2010 - 23/01/2011]
Full details
Alfonso A. Alejo, officer in the Napoleonic Historical Society, has produced a brief review of the exhibition currently taking place in Stockholm.
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
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