President Hénault and Madame du Deffand: Court Life in Regency France

Description

PEREY (Lucien). Le président Hénault et Madame du Deffand. La cour du Régent, la cour de Louis XV et de Marie Leczinska. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1893. Large octavo, 548 pages, with portrait frontispiece, half-leather binding (dampstains on spine). A comprehensive historical study covering Hénault's youth and entry into society, his marriage and romantic affairs; Madame du Deffand's origins and her early years at the Regent's court; the Maréchal de Noailles; Law and the Unigenitus Bull; the Regent and young Louis XV; Cardinal Dubois and the Regent's deaths; Louis XV's marriage to Marie Leczinska; the relationship between President Hénault and Madame du Deffand; Voltaire's influence; Richardson's Clarissa; Mlle de Lespinasse; and Madame du Deffand's salon and later blindness.