The Letters of The Duchesse d'Elbeuf : Hostile Witness to the French Revolution Paperback / softback
Edited by Colin Jones, Alex Fairfax-Cholmeley, Simon Macdonald
Part of the Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series
Paperback / softback
Description
The recently-discovered letters of the wealthy counter-revolutionary aristocrat, Innocente-Catherine de Rougé, dowager duchess d’Elbeuf (1707-94), offer a vivid and exciting new eye-witness perspective on the French Revolution and the Terror.
Hostile witness to everything about the Revolution, from the noble revolt, the storming of the Bastille and the peasant revolution in 1788-91, through to the outbreak of war, the overthrow and trial of Louis XVI and the Terror in 1791-4, the duchess’s letters to an unknown friend offer an unparalleled real-time narrative by an aristocratic woman struggling to understand radical change.
Though tempted by emigration to the Low Countries, the duchess was unusual among her contemporary fellow-aristocrats in remaining in France down to her death in 1794, based in her two homes in Picardy and at the heart of Paris.
As well as providing a detailed account of all she saw and read, the correspondence also portrays the anguished mental and spiritual odyssey of a highly devout octogenarian woman, who persisted inplangently declaring her outspokenly counter-revolutionary views even as she approached her own death in conditions of great personal danger.
The letters constitute a remarkable example of female life-writing at the heart of the Age of Revolutions from a unique perspective.
Information
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Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:432 pages, Illustrations, black and white
- Publisher:Liverpool University Press
- Publication Date:09/10/2023
- Category:
- ISBN:9781802078718
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:432 pages, Illustrations, black and white
- Publisher:Liverpool University Press
- Publication Date:09/10/2023
- Category:
- ISBN:9781802078718
