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Chargement... About Catherine de Medici, Gambara, Seraphita, and Other Storiespar Honoré de Balzac
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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ The Works Of HonorE De Balzac: About Catherine De' Medici, Seraphita, And Other Stories; Volume 2 Of The Works Of HonorE De Balzac: With Introductions By George Saintsbury; HonorE De Balzac; Volume 2 Of The Works Of HonorE De Balzac; HonorE De Balzac illustrated HonorE de Balzac null Dana Estes, 1901 Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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By sally tarbox on 15 Dec. 2011
Format: Paperback
I read this immediately after completing Frieda's excellent biography of Catherine de Medici and was glad of having a familiarity with her life while reading this. This is NOT another biography however, nor is it a treatise on the lady.
The first (main) part of the book is a narrative of an idealistic young Huguenot, Christophe Lecamus, who is a willing participant in the Prince de Conde's plan to gain access to Catherine with communications from the Protestants. I found this whole section really brought history to life- from Balzac's descriptions of 16th century Paris to the personalities at court. Certainly his take on certain situations is vastly different to that of Frieda: he imagines huge antipathy between Catherine and her young daughter-in-law Mary (later Queen of Scots) whereas Frieda describes a warm relationship. Similarly Catherine's determination to remove Mary (and her hated Guise relatives) from power causes her to refuse her son a life-saving trepanning operation; Frieda considers it absurd propaganda that she would have let her son die. Who knows?
The second piece takes place some time later; Catherine's second son, Charles IX, is now on the throne, an unwell and unhappy young man, ever distrustful of his mother and her poisons. He imprisons - briefly- her alchemists, the Ruggieris. I found the discussion on their craft somewhat over my head, but the historical picture of this king was fascinating.
Thirdly and finally, we are transported to an aristocratic party in 1786. One guest claims to have seen and debated with Catherine over the events of her life. She sums up that 'to leave two hostile principles at work in a government with nothing to balance them...is sowing the seed of revolutions' and continues 'a revolution...which is still progressing and which you may achieve. Yes, YOU who hear me'.
Only in the last sentence is it revealed that the 2 guests are named Robespierre and Marat.
Very interesting read, totally different to any history book on the subject.