Hi everyone, first time poster here. I used to lurk on the Napoleon series forum a lot but never posted as I did not feeI I had anything to contribute; I'm not a historian but merely a hobby fiction writer.
I fear I still don't have anything to contribute but I do have a question that maybe somebody here could kindly help me with. It's about the book »Avec Bonaparte en Égypte et en Syrie«, containing 19 letters detailing the adventures of François Bernoyer during the years 1798 to 1800, edited by Christian Tortel. I had seen quotes in Juan Cole's and Paul Strathern's books and got myself a copy from our state library.
Now on first skimming through it I'm a little confused. Is this really a credible source? Because frankly, my first impresson was: These are not letters, these are not even memoirs who have been given the form of letters – this is a novel.
Also, the edition contains the facsmile of one original manuscript page, and while both my French and my ability to decipher handwritings are admittedly bad, even I can see that these letters are indeed not »inédites« but have been tampered with (in the original, the dates are given according to the Republican calendar, for example; they have been replaced in the printed version, and I noticed minor changes in the wording, too).
Does anybody know more about the history of this manuscript and its publication? Is the original manuscript somewhere to be found? Who is the editor of this publication? What's known about the author and about when and why he wrote the text? Has any historian ever verified the manuscript's authenticity and/or evaluated its credibility?
Sorry if I sound so sceptical, particularly as, again, I am no historian and have no academic background at all. It's probably rather preposterous of me to question a source on nothing but a feeling. I guess I just don't want to waste too much time in studying an aging Monsieur Bernoyer's imaginary harem adventures if indeed some of it has already been suspected of being fictionary ^_^.
The edition I got from the library has the title:
François Bernoyer, »Chef de l'atelier d'habillement de l'Armée d'Orient«: Avec Bonaparte en Égypte et en Syrie 1798 – 1800. Dix-neuf lettres inédites retrouvées, transcrites et présentées par Christian Tortel. Les Presses Françaises, Imprimérie F. Paillart, 1976
Thanks in advance for every help!
Well, thank you all so much for your welcome and for giving your opinions already! Maybe I've really been overly sceptical. Just to explain myself, I had expected some "real" letters, which these letters in my opinion clearly are not. And now I would like to know how much of this work was "composed", and by who (the author or the editor/publisher). And why, if not for publication? And if indeed it was intended for publication, how much of it was "embellished" in order to to meet readers' expectations? What made me so suspicious in the first place:
- The fact neither recipient, both wife and cousin, seem to have a name. Why are there two recipients in the first place?
- From what I have seen, there seem to be no questions, no good wishes, no "How's mom, how are the kids?", etc.
- The regularity with which the frivolous anecdotes are mixed in between the military stuff - even in a letter supposedly adressed to Bernoyer's wife! -, and their overall tone.
- Some rather weird phrases like "as we French always do" etc.
- The fact the letters end as soon as Bonaparte has left the country.
Together with all the minor differences between the facsimile and the printed version of the text I thought I'd muster up the courage to ask if somebody here can tell me more about this text ^_^.