ABSTRACT
Since the 1969 Sorbonne conference to commemorate the bicentenary of Napoleon's birth, historical inquiry into the notables, or social elites, of the Consulate and Empire has been at the forefront of Napoleonic scholarship. This interest has partly been guided by the richness of available historical sources, as the Napoleonic state's obsession with generating statistics and lists extended into the social domain. The government's investigations of the social body, however, were limited to understanding only the nature of the elites. The popular classes, as a subject of sociological inquiry, received scant attention in administrative reports, and they consequently remain marginalised in our understanding of the Napoleonic social fabric. Yet the quantification and qualification of the local elites was among the prefectoral administration's chief responsibilities. Considerable time and effort was devoted to compiling lists on electoral college membership, the highest taxed citizens in each department, the most influential local families and the most distinguished members of the various professions. This impressive cataloguing of the upper echelons of Napoleonic society provides a vast repository of information on individuals' professions, wealth and pre-revolutionary backgrounds.
