Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King's Court

Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King's Court PDF Author: Paul Weidner
Publisher: Terrace Books
ISBN: 9780299205102
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Set in the over-scaled, decadent Versailles of Louis XIV, Memoirs of a Dwarf is the story of Hugues, an impoverished dwarf who maneuvers his way up into the very highest of court circles by clandestinely serving the needs of a mob of unscrupulous gamblers, of a priest notorious for saying black Masses at midnight, and--from under the gaming tables--of a number of sex-starved society women, including Louis's mistress. Along the way, Hugues finally discovers the truth of his own identity, a revelation which is a political bombshell and which subjects him to a grisly turn. The story combines historical events and characters--Louis, his mistresses, his outrageous brother Philippe, and many other baroque personalities--with fictitious ones. Hugues's tale reaches its climax during the famous affaire des poisons, the sexual and political scandal that thundered through the royal court and threatened wholesale destruction.

Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King's Court

Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King's Court PDF Author: Paul Weidner
Publisher: Terrace Books
ISBN: 9780299205102
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Set in the over-scaled, decadent Versailles of Louis XIV, Memoirs of a Dwarf is the story of Hugues, an impoverished dwarf who maneuvers his way up into the very highest of court circles by clandestinely serving the needs of a mob of unscrupulous gamblers, of a priest notorious for saying black Masses at midnight, and--from under the gaming tables--of a number of sex-starved society women, including Louis's mistress. Along the way, Hugues finally discovers the truth of his own identity, a revelation which is a political bombshell and which subjects him to a grisly turn. The story combines historical events and characters--Louis, his mistresses, his outrageous brother Philippe, and many other baroque personalities--with fictitious ones. Hugues's tale reaches its climax during the famous affaire des poisons, the sexual and political scandal that thundered through the royal court and threatened wholesale destruction.

Bowker's Guide to Characters in Fiction 2007

Bowker's Guide to Characters in Fiction 2007 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780835247498
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 3004

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Book Description


A Woman's Life in the Court of the Sun King

A Woman's Life in the Court of the Sun King PDF Author: Charlotte-Elisabeth Orléans (duchesse d')
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801856358
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
On 16 November 1671, Liselotte von der Pfalz, the nineteen-year-old daughter of the Elector of Palatine, was married to Philippe d'Orleans, "Monsieur, " the only brother of Louis XIV. The marriage was not to be a happy one. Liselotte (known in France as Elisabeth Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orleans, or "Madame") was full of intellectual energy and moral rigor. Homesick for her native Germany, she felt temperamentally ill-suited to life at the French court. The homosexual Monsieur, deeply immersed in the pleasures and intrigues of the court, shared few of his wife's interests. Yet, for the next fifty years, Liselotte remained in France, never far from the center of one of the most glorious courts of Europe. And throughout this period, she wrote letters - sometimes as many as forty a week - to her friends and relatives in Germany. It is from this extraordinary body of correspondence that A Woman's Life in the Court of the Sun King has been fashioned. As introduced and translated by Elborg Forster, the letters have become the remarkable personal narrative of Liselotte's transformation from an innocent, yet outspoken, girl into a formidable observer of great events and human folly.

Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan

Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan PDF Author: Madame de Montespan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description


Luxury Arts of the Renaissance

Luxury Arts of the Renaissance PDF Author: Marina Belozerskaya
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892367857
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.

Bolivar

Bolivar PDF Author: Marie Arana
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439110204
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
An authoritative portrait of the Latin-American warrior-statesman examines his life against a backdrop of the tensions of nineteenth-century South America, covering his achievements as a strategist, abolitionist, and diplomat.

The Book of the Courtier

The Book of the Courtier PDF Author: conte Baldassarre Castiglione
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Courtesy
Languages : en
Pages : 526

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Book Description


Commentary on the Holy Bible by the Rev. Matthew Henry. With Memoirs of His Life, Character, and Writings, by Sir J. Bickerton Williams, and an Introductory Essay by the Rev. John Stoughton. Illustrated, Etc. [With the Text.]

Commentary on the Holy Bible by the Rev. Matthew Henry. With Memoirs of His Life, Character, and Writings, by Sir J. Bickerton Williams, and an Introductory Essay by the Rev. John Stoughton. Illustrated, Etc. [With the Text.] PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 1572

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Book Description


Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan PDF Author: Murasaki Shikibu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description


The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville

The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville PDF Author: Alexis de Tocqueville
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description