By Hugh Stokes. With a Photogravure Frontispiece and 16 other Illustrations.
Demy 8vo. (9 × 5-3/4 inches.) 12s. 6d. net.
The name of Marie Marguerite d'Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers, is famous in the annals of crime, but the true history of her career is little known. A woman of birth and rank, she was also a remorseless poisoner, and her trial was one of the most sensational episodes of the early reign of Louis XIV. The author was attracted to this curious subject by Charles le Brun's realistic sketch of the unhappy Marquise as she appeared on her way to execution. This chef d'oeuvre of misery and agony forms the frontispiece to the volume, and strikes a fitting keynote to an absorbing story of human passion and wrong-doing.
THE VICISSITUDES OF A LADY-IN-WAITING. 1735-1821.
By Eugene Welvert. Translated from the French by Lilian O'Neill. With a Photogravure Frontispiece and 16 other Illustrations
Demy 8vo. (9 × 5-3/4 inches.) 12s. 6d. net.
The Duchesse de Narbonne-Lara was Lady-in-Waiting to Madame Adelaide, the eldest daughter of Louis XV. Around the stately figure of this Princess are gathered the most remarkable characters of the days of the Old Regime, the Revolution and the first Empire. The great charm of the work is that it takes us over so much and varied ground. Here, in the gay crowd of ladies and courtiers, in the rustle of flowery silken paniers, in the clatter of high-heeled shoes, move the figures of Louis XV., Louis XVI., Du Barri and Marie-Antoinette. We catch picturesque glimpses of the great wits, diplomatists and soldiers of the time, until, finally we encounter Napoleon Bonaparte.
From the Papers of a Macaroni and his Kindred. By A. M. W. Stirling, author of "Coke of Norfolk and his Friends." With 33 Illustrations, including 3 in Colour and 3 in Photogravure.
Demy 8vo. (9 × 5-3/4 inches.) 2 vols. 32s. net.