The Ingenious and Diverting Letters of the Lady ---- Travels into Spain

The Ingenious and Diverting Letters of the Lady ---- Travels into Spain - Describing the Devotions, Nunneries, Humours, Customs, Laws, Militia, Trade, Diet and Recreations of That People

AT the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth there were several women in France who had gained no small reputation for the writing of amusing if somewhat extravagant Contes des Fes. Of these Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness of Aulnoy, has best survived her contemporaries as the author of La Chatte Blanche, La Grenoulle Bien-complaisante, Le Prince Lutin, LOiseau Bleue, and of other tales which, as M. La Harpe has thought, place her supreme in the realm of delicate frivolity. The life of this brilliant woman will doubtless present a contrast with most preconceptions of her character based upon a mere reading of her books; and we may be surprised to find in her such a marked individuality, so peculiarly in touch with her time, and offering so little of the ideal and sensitive nature it was fairly natural to infer. We have not, in fact, a mere writer of amusing tales and half romantic histories, but an intriguing, though charming, woman, of a bold and often reckless nature, sufficient to stamp her a worthy daughter of her time. And, after all harsh verdicts have been passed, we shall, I think, return to Madame Aulnoy, by way of her books, with a feeling of affection and interest. Barneville, near Bourg-Achard (Eure), is her birthplace. Her father was Nicolas-Claude Le Jumel, and her mother, who subsequently married the Marquis of Gudaigne and went with him to Rome, Judith-Anglique Le Coustellier. Nicolas is said to have served long in the armies of Louis XIV., and to have been related to some of the best families of Normandy. Judith later, when in Rome, seems to have rendered peculiar services to the Spanish court, for which she was duly rewarded. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 52667
Author: Aulnoy, Madame d' (Marie-Catherine)
Release Date: Jul 29, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English