Explorations – No 52 Jun 2012

IVAN BARKO, Foreword

NICOLE STARBUCK, The Colonial Field – Science, Sydney and the Baudin Expedition (1802)

A scholarly examination of the scientific achievements of the Baudin expedition during its long stay in Port Jackson in 1802.

Keywords: scientific research, natural history specimens and observations, Port Jackson, François Péron, Nicholas Baudin, Leschenault, a colonial field

COLIN NETTELBECK, Twentieth Century French Literature in Australian Universities – Teaching and Research

An examination of the changes that have occurred in modern languages departments in universities and the resulting decline in the study of contemporary French literature.

Keywords: French Studies, twentieth century French literature, Australian Research Council, post-literary era, linguistic proficiency cf literary culture, academic journals, PhD research topics

RICHARD GUNTER, Studying French at the University of Melbourne (1945–1948)

Reminiscences of a former student of the French Department ta the University of Melbourne between 1945 and 1948.

Keywords: A.R. Chisholm, the French Club, Alliance Française, plays and play readings

EDWARD DUYKER, Une Tasmanie Française
The text of a talk on the French explorers in Tasmania and light-hearted speculation on what might have happened had the French settled in Tasmania.

Keywords: Marion Dufresne, Van Diemen’s Land, D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Dumont d’Urville, Nicholas Baudin, Governor King

BRIAN NELSON, The Australian Journal of French Studies: Looking Forward

A note about the agreement between The Australian Journal of French Studies and the University of Liverpool.

Keywords: The Australian Journal of French Studies, Monash University, University of Liverpool, internationalisation, technological progress

ELAINE LEWIS, The Valéry Collection for the State Library of Victoria

A note about the acquisition of a collection of books previously owned by the poet and thinker Paul Valéry and purchased by the Library from the estate of the late Judith Robinson-Valéry, the Australian widow of Valéry’s son Claude.

Keywords: State Library of Victoria, Paul Valéry, Judith Robinson-Valéry

Book Reviews and Note

Georges-Goulven Le Cam, L’Australie au-delà du rêve, reviewed by Stephen Alomes

Ian Coller, Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798–1831, reviewed by Stephen Alomes

Richard Travers, The Tennis Courts of Lyon: Les Jeux de Paume de Lyon, note by Elaine Lewis

ELAINE LEWIS, French-Australian Bibliographical Notes

Explorations – No 27 Dec 1999

PATRICIA CLANCY, JACQUES DE SAINT-FERJEUX, COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Foreword

EDWARD DUYKER, A Distant Thunder: Napoleon, Australia and the National Library

Edward Duyker relates the rise of Napoleon and its effects upon Australia; for example, the Peace of Amiens meant the French in Mauritius were given permission to explore trade with Australia and Nicolas Baudin was able to visit Port Jackson in safety. French attention to the region precipitated the British settlement of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). The life and death of Napoleon are well represented in the National Library of Australia—the author lists some of the most important items.

Keywords: Peace of Amiens, Port Jackson, Nicolas Baudin, Van Diemen’s land, National Library of Australia.

DANIEL DULDIG, The Australian Napoleonic Society

The text of Daniel Duldig’s talk given to the Annual General Meeting of the Australian Napoleonic Society, 15 November 1999.

Keywords: Daniel Duldig, Australian Napoleonic Society.

COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Two Napoleonic Collections: 11-16

Colin Thornton-Smith reviews the exhibition of the Pierre-Jean Chalençon Collection (Treasures of the Emperor and Imperial France) and the Mabel Brookes Napoleonic Collection. He finds the Chalençon exhibition notable for its presentation of both the Imperial Napoleon and Napoleon the man, from birth to death. The Mabel Brookes Collection focuses more upon the St Helena years and began at St Helena where William Balcombe, the great-grandfather of Dame Mabel Brookes, was the Naval Agent for the British Fleet and Purveyor for the East India Company. This collection and the 1840’s homestead of the Balcombe family (The Briars) continue to be open to the public. (http://www.napoleonguide.com/briars.htm).

Keywords: Pierre-Jean Chalençon Collection, Mabel Brookes Napoleonic Collection, William Balcombe, The Briars

COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Napoleonic Toponymy in Australia 17-19

Colin Thornton-Smith describes Napoleonic place names attributed by Baudin, Peron or Louis de Freycinet to various geographical features in Australia. His source is Frank Horner’s The French Reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia 1801-1803, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1987 (reviewed by Dr Edward Duyker in Explorations No. 6, September 1998).

Keywords: Colin Thornton-Smith, Napoleonic toponymy in Australia, Baudin, Peron, Louis de Freycinet, Frank Horner, The French Reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia 1801-1803

BOOK REVIEWS

Susan Hunt and Paul Carter, Terre Napoléon: Australia Through French Eyes 1800-1804, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Jill Duchess of Hamilton Napoleon, the Empress & the Artist: The Story of Napoleon, Josephine’s Garden at Malmaison, Redouté & the Australian Plants, reviewed by Edward Duyker

JACQUES DE SAINT-FERJEUX, COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Napoleonic Literary Awards

Short article on Literary Prizes won by Pierre Ryckmans and Patricia Clancy for the translation of Ryckman’s novel The Death of Napoleon (London: Quartet books; published in Australia by Allen & Unwin) and for Patricia Clancy’s translation of Jean-Paul Kauffmann’s La chambre noire de Longwood (Paris: La Table Ronde, 1997) as The Dark Room at Longwood: Napoleon’s Exile on Saint Helena (London: Harvill Press, 1999).

Keywords: Pierre Ryckmans, Patricia Clancy, The Death of Napoleon, La chambre noire de Longwood, translation awards

APPENDIX — Holdings in Napoleoniana at the State Library of Victoria p 31-48

A list of books and microfilms to do with the life and times of Napoleon I and his immediate family This list does not include imaginative works of which he is the subject. (Follows the order of the Dewey Decimal Classification.)