A delightfully illustrated literary anthology that explores the fantasies, seductions, and intrigues of the eighteenth-century French lover
Description
This sumptuous volume presents more than eighty selections from eighteenth-century French literature, each concerning some facet of the game of love as practiced by the libertine, or the freethinking aristocratic hedonist, a type that flourished—not least in literature—in the declining years of the Ancien Régime. These pieces, which include fiction, drama, verse, essays, and letters, are the work of some sixty writers, both familiar—such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and, of course, the Marquis de Sade—and lesser-known. Each selection is illustrated by well-chosen period artworks, many rarely seen, by Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, and numerous others.
Racy, thought-provoking, and a treat for the eyes, The Libertine is the perfect gift for litterateurs, art lovers, roués, and coquettes.
Details
Pages: 496
Publisher: Abbeville Publishing Group
Imprint: Abbeville Press
Publication Date: 22nd October 2013
Trim Size: 10 x 12.5 in
ISBN: 9780789211477
Reviews
"The eighteenth century seems to flirt everywhere: in salons, boudoirs, forests; on screens, earthenware, and fans; and the bodies are posed at the reader's disposal. Delectable."
– La Monde
"This work is a masterpiece."
– Point De Vue
"The most seductive book published this year. A boudoir coffee-table book that will put your guests in the proper frame of mind."
– Playboy
"Highly recommended for sophisticated readers, art historians, and Francophiles."
– Library Journal
Author Bio
Michel Delon, professor of French literature at the Sorbonne, is the author of several studies of the eighteenth-century libertine. He has edited the works of Diderot and Sade for the Bibliotheque de la Pléiade, as well as Routledge’s Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.
This sumptuous volume presents more than eighty selections from eighteenth-century French literature, each concerning some facet of the game of love as practiced by the libertine, or the freethinking aristocratic hedonist, a type that flourished—not least in literature—in the declining years of the Ancien Régime. These pieces, which include fiction, drama, verse, essays, and letters, are the work of some sixty writers, both familiar—such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and, of course, the Marquis de Sade—and lesser-known. Each selection is illustrated by well-chosen period artworks, many rarely seen, by Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, and numerous others.
Racy, thought-provoking, and a treat for the eyes, The Libertine is the perfect gift for litterateurs, art lovers, roués, and coquettes.
Pages: 496
Publisher: Abbeville Publishing Group
Imprint: Abbeville Press
Publication Date: 22nd October 2013
Trim Size: 10 x 12.5 in
ISBN: 9780789211477
"The eighteenth century seems to flirt everywhere: in salons, boudoirs, forests; on screens, earthenware, and fans; and the bodies are posed at the reader's disposal. Delectable."
– La Monde
"This work is a masterpiece."
– Point De Vue
"The most seductive book published this year. A boudoir coffee-table book that will put your guests in the proper frame of mind."
– Playboy
"Highly recommended for sophisticated readers, art historians, and Francophiles."
– Library Journal
Michel Delon, professor of French literature at the Sorbonne, is the author of several studies of the eighteenth-century libertine. He has edited the works of Diderot and Sade for the Bibliotheque de la Pléiade, as well as Routledge’s Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment.
