The Age of Conversation

Craveri, Benedetta / Translated by Teresa Waugh

ISBN 10: 1590172140 / ISBN 13: 9781590172148

Edité par New York Review Books, New York, 2005

A propos de cet article

488 pp., xv. '1' in number line; First Thus; First Printing. 16 Glossy black and white plates inserted between pp. 208-209. Following the Introduction, Contents divided into 17 Chapters: (1) "A Way of Life"; (2) "Daughters of Eve"; (3) "The Blue Room"; (4) "Vincent Voiture: The Ame du Rond'; (5) "La Guirland de Julie"; (6) "Madame de Longueville: A Perfect Transformation"; (7) "The Duchese de Montbazon and the Reformer of La Trappe"; (8) "The Marquise de Sable: The Salon in the Convent" (I) Foundresses of Jansenism, (II) Friendship as a Passion; (III) In the Shade of Port-Royal, (IV) The Maxim Game; (9) "La Grande Mademoiselle (I) The Heroine of the Fronde, (II) The Trials of Exile, (III) The Portrait Game, (IV) The Discovery of 'The Other' "; (10) "Madame de Sevigne and Madame de Lafayette: A Lasting Friendship"; (11) "Madame de la Sabliere: Pure Sentiment"; (12) "Madame de Maintenon and Ninon de Lenclos: The Importance of Reputation"; (13) "L'Esprit de Societe (I) The Character of the Nation, (II) The Court as Theater; (III) The Revenge of Paris; (IV) The Patriarch of Ferney"; (14) "The Marquise de Lambert: The Ideal of the Honnete Femme"; (15) "Madame de Tencin: The Enlightenment Adventuress"; (16) Emulation"; (17) "The Age of Conversation (I) The Seductions of the Spoken Word, (II) The Deceptions of the Spoken Word; (III) The Power of the Spoken Word"; Bibliographical Essay, pp. 377-446;Index of Names, pp. 447-488. Wrappers with top 2/5 front cover in taupe, for Title, Author and Translator's names superimposed, above lower 3/5 cover for colorful illustration of two women and a man in conversation, "The Game of Pied-de-Boeuf" by Jean-Francois de Troy. There are two vertical, ruled, ink lines in the margin of p. xiii of the Introduction, else the book is free of all markings and previous owner names; NO remainder marks. Strong binding (NO cracks); sharp corners (NO bumps or curls); NO rubbing wear. Virtually As New. Solid copy.

N° de réf. du vendeur 003022

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Age of Conversation
• Éditeur: New York Review Books, New York
• Date de parution: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1590172140
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781590172148
• Reliure: Soft cover
• Édition: 1st Edition
• Impression: 1st Printing
• État de l'article: Fine

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Now in paperback, an award-winning look at French salons and the women who presided over them

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, between the reign of Louis XIII and the Revolution, French aristocratic society developed an art of living based on a refined code of good manners.

Conversation, which began as a way of passing time, eventually became the central ritual of social life. In the salons, freed from the rigidity of court life, it was women who dictated the rules and presided over exchanges among socialites, writers, theologians, and statesmen. They contributed decisively to the development of the modern French language, new literary forms, and debates over philosophical and scientific ideas.

With a cast of characters both famous and unknown, ranging from the Marquise de Rambouillet to Madame de Sta‘l, and including figures like Ninon de Lenclos, the Marquise de Sevigne, and Madame de Lafayette, as well as Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, Diderot, and Voltaire, Benedetta Craveri traces the history of this worldly society that carried the art of sociability to its supreme perfection–and ultimately helped bring on the Revolution that swept it all away.

À propos de l?auteur

BENEDETTA CRAVERI is a professor of French literature at the University of Tuscia, Viterbo, and the Istituto Universitario Suor Orsola Benincasa, Naples. She regularly contributes to The New York Review of Books and to the cultural pages of the Italian newspaper La Republica. Her books include Madame du Deffand and Her World, La Vie privee du Marechal de Richelieu, and Amanti e regine: Il potere delle donne.

Teresa Waugh is the author of eight novels including The House. She has translated numerous books from both French and Italian, including Benedetta Craveri’s Madame du Duffand and Her World and Anka Muhlstein’s A Taste for Freedom: The Life of Astolphe Custine. She is the widow of Auberon Waugh, son of Evelyn Waugh, and lives in Somerset, England.