Mme. Blanc--Thérèse de Solms--is known to us to-day as the first woman to reveal English and American authors and habits to her contemporaries. By advocating American customs she has done much to ameliorate the condition of French girls, by giving them a freer intercourse with young men and permitting them to see more of the world before entering upon married life.
Mme. Gréville, who died recently, deserves a place among the prominent women writers of France. No femme de lettres ever received more honors, prizes, and decorations than she; a number of her writings were crowned by the Academy. A member of the Société des Gens de Lettres, with all her literary work she was a domestic woman, keeping aloof from all feminist movements. Her husband, Professor Durand, to show his esteem and admiration for her, adopted her name--a wise act, for it may preserve his name with that of his talented wife.
Many other names might be cited, but, as the list of prominent women is practically without end, owing to the indefiniteness of the term "prominent," we shall close with these names, which have become familiar in both continents.
CONTENTS
[I.] [II.] [III.] [IV.] [V.] [VI.] [VII.] [VIII.] [IX.] [X.] [XI.] [XII.] [XIII.] [XIV.] |
[PREFACE] WOMAN IN POLITICS. WOMAN IN FAMILY LIFE. EDUCATION, AND LETTERS. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: WOMAN AT HER BEST. WOMAN IN SOCIETY AND LITERATURE. MISTRESSES AND WIVES OF LOUIS XIV. MME. DE SEVIGNE. MME. DE LA FAYETTE, MME. DACIER, MME. DE CAYLUS. WOMAN IN RELIGION. SALON LEADERS MME. DE TENCIN. MME. GEOFFRIN, MME. DU DEFFAND, MLLE. DE LESPINASSE, MME. DU CHÂTELET. SALON LEADERS (CONTINUED)-MME. NECKER. MME. D'EPINAY. MME. DE GENLIS: MINOR SALONS. SOCIAL CLASSES. ROYAL MISTRESSES. MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE REVOLUTION. WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTION AND THE EMPIRE. WOMEN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. |
List of Illustrations
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[Marguerite d'Angoulême, Queen of Navarre, reading the Heptameron to her brother, Francis I,] [Marguerite of Valois at the coronation of Marie de Medici,] [Mme. du Chatelet protecting Voltaire,] [Mme. de Pompadour and a clerical lobbyist,] [A garden party under Marie Antoinette at Trianon,] [Mme. Recamier's salon,] | Leon Olivie. P.P. Rubens. Mme. E. Armand Leleux. A. Casanova. Emile Bayard. Adrien Moreau. |