Winter Reads

Francois Dumont, Marie Antoinette. 1780, portrait miniatures (5x3 in.), ivory. Image from slide, University of California, San Diego.

Here is my latest list of books about Marie Antoinette and the 18th century. I included my own little annotations to them and I suspect you will find something of interest here!

From Marie Antoinette's garden : an eighteenth century horticultural album

Feydeau, Elisabeth de. 2013. From Marie Antoinette's Garden: An Eighteenth-Century Horticultural Album. Paris: Flammarion.

Take a walk through the gardens at the Petit Trianon just as Marie Antoinette would have while Queen of France.  Plants, flowers, and pathways are laid out for you based on archival drawings and accounts from the period. 

Selling Beauty: Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750-1830

Martin, Morag. 2009. Selling Beauty: Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750-1830. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

The history of the cosmetic industry in France, fascinating stuff!

Licensing Loyalty: Printers, Patrons, and the State in Early Modern France 

McLeod, Jane. 2011. Licensing Loyalty: Printers, Patrons, and the State in Early Modern France. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press.

McLeod examines the rise of print culture in 18th century France, the states policy of licensing printers and the uses of print culture in the political life of provincial France.

The First Actresses: From Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons

Perry, Gill, Joseph Roach, and Shearer West. 2011. The First Actresses: From Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

By studying the most interesting portraits painted of the first actresses to make a name for themselves on the British stage, this book creates vivid portraits of these famous ladies.  History through art history, I love it!

Art of the Shoemaker

Garsault, Francois A. de, and D. A. 2009. M. de Garsault's 1767 Art of the Shoemaker: An Annotated Translation. Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Although he was one of many shoemakers in Paris during the 18th century, M. de Garsault was the only one who wrote about it, or at least that we know of today.  This fascinating account comes straight from a contemporary working in eighteenth century Paris.

Capricious Fancy: Draping and Curtaining the Historic Interior, 1800-1930

Winkler, Gail Caskey. 2012. Capricious Fancy: Draping and Curtaining the Historic Interior, 1800-1930. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

If the title didn't hook you this will "The materials that decorate our homes and protect us from cold, light, and prying eyes reveal as well as conceal." Enjoy this one!

The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden

Baraton, Alain. 2014. The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden. [S.l.]: Rizzoli.

This will be released soon but I am a bit curious about it. A memoir from the Gardener-in-cheif at Versailles:

"The same gardens that hosted the lavish lawn parties of Louis XIV and the momentous meeting between Marie Antoinette and the Cardinal de Rohan remain enchanted, private places where visitors try to get themselves locked in at night, lovers go looking for secluded hideaways, and elegant grandmothers secretly make cuttings to take back to their own gardens." 

Love the bit about the elegant grandmothers!!

What are you reading this winter?