Legion of Honor
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Legion of Honor. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a French order of merit established by Napoleon in 1804. Soldiers or others who had distinguished themselves received a star containing the emperor's portrait, surrounded by a wreath of oak and laurel and the words "Napoleon, Empereur des Francais." On the other side was the French eagle bearing a thunderbolt in his claws and the legend, "Honneur et Patrie," meaning honor and native land. The order has been reconstituted. A device emblematic of the republic has been substituted for the portrait of the Empire. The words are now "Republique Francaise 1807." On the reverse two flags take the place of the imperial eagle. The order has also been graded. There are 25,000 chevaliers or ordinary members, 4,000 officers, 1,000 commanders, 200 grand officers, and twenty grand crosses. Rosa Bonheur was one of the few women to receive the decoration of the order.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a French ONOR, a French order of merit founded by Napoleon I., when order first consul, as a by Napoleon I., when reward for services or reward for services or merit litary. It consists of various grades as grand crosses, grand , civil or military. It consists of officers, grand crosses, grand commanders, officers, and legioners, officers, and legion- QUE. FRANCAISE 870 CROSS OF THE LEGION OF HONOR LEGION OF HONOR aries. For their services in France durservices in France during the World War a number of Ameria number of American officers, soldiers, and civilians were civilians were an awarded different grades of this order in order by the French Government.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The order Aiton's described in 1910 is still France's highest distinction, still with the five grades Collier's listed in 1921, and the President of the Republic still serves as its Grand Master. It was reorganised by the code of 1962, and in 1963 de Gaulle created a second decoration, the National Order of Merit, to take the pressure off a Legion whose numbers had swollen; living members today number roughly 90,000, against the 30,220 Aiton's counted. Women, whom Aiton's treated as a rarity worth noting in the case of Rosa Bonheur, are now admitted as a matter of course, with quotas since 2008 pushing civilian promotions toward gender parity. The medal itself is much as described, bearing "Honneur et Patrie" and the republican head with the date 1870 (misprinted as 1807 in the Aiton's text).
Written for this edition, 2026.