Madame Du Deffand And Her World
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Madame Du Deffand And Her World by Benedetta Craveri
This biography of Madame du Deffand describes the life of this highly intelligent libertine and the role she played in the social and cultural life of 18th-century France. Quoting extensively from her subject's correspondence, Craveri attempts to relive the world of the "philosophes" of the Enlightment, centred around Voltaire and d'Alembert, and unravels a complex world of extreme intelligence, taste and sensibility, revealing a new view of reality, full of foreboding for the future. Gifted with destructive insight, and dominated by obsessive boredom, Madame du Deffand tended towards cynicism and wariness in her opinion of men, ever-fearful of being disappointed by others. When she became old and blind, she developed a passion for the young English writer Horace Walpole, son of the Prime Minister. The author has been awarded the Viareggio and Comisso prizes in Italy and the Prix de Meilleur Livre Etranger in France for this biography.
Teresa Waugh was born in 1940. She is the author of eight novels and has translated numerous books from from French and Italian. She lives in Somerset and was married to the late Auberon Waugh. A professor of French Literature at the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy, Benedetta Craveri was born in Rome and now lives partly in Brussels. (Her husband is a French amabassador to NATO). A frequent contributor to the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781870015516 |
| ISBN 10 | 1870015517 |
| Title | Madame Du Deffand And Her World |
| Author | Benedetta Craveri |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Peter Halban Publishers Ltd |
| Year published | 1994-11-24 |
| Number of pages | 480 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |