The story of the famous wax works, established in Paris during the revolution and later brought to London, written by one of the great-grandsons of the founder, the present proprietor of the exhibition. Madame Tussaud, altho a young girl at the time of the revolution, was already famed as a modeler in wax and had been a favorite at court. She was conscripted and compelled to model the guillotined heads of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Marat murdered in his bath, and other horrors, a number of which are reproduced in the illustrations. The story is brought down to the present day, describing many of the recent additions, with illustrations. Hilaire Belloc has written an introduction and the book is indexed.
Ath p109 Ja 23 ’20 1650w + Booklist 17:145 Ja ’21
“The amazing feature of the book is, however, the manner in which its author has made so intrinsically interesting and romantic a theme dull and commonplace. It is evident that he possesses absolutely no qualifications for his task. He is simply adept at the compilation of a scrap-book. Yet his subject is so fascinating that it is better to have his account of Madame Tussaud’s life and work than none at all.” E. F. E.
+ − Boston Transcript p4 O 27 ’20 1450w + Cath World 112:686 F ’21 250w + N Y Evening Post p12 N 27 ’20 130w
“‘Romance’ is possibly a strong word for this book, and is applicable only where some story connected with a character in the collection is told. Sometimes this takes Mr Tussaud far afield. But as a collection of anecdotes it ranks almost with Siboutie’s ‘Souvenirs of a Parisian.’”
+ − N Y Times p2 O 31 ’20 1700w
“Mr Tussaud has appreciated the value of his materials both from the historic point of view and from the viewpoint of human interest. His narrative, like his wax figures, simply presents facts of undeniable interest. But it is the pictures that make the book unique.”
+ No Am 213:287 F ’21 520w + Outlook 126:654 D 8 ’20 80w
“The book is often pleasantly gruesome.” E. L. Pearson