Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Volume 13

Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de, 1675-1755Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0

Word count: 142K words
Chapters: 15

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Volume 13 by Saint-Simon. Author: Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de, 1675-1755. Language: English. Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco. Release Date: Dec 3, 2004

Editor's review

This volume is the thirteenth volume of the English translation of the Duc de Saint-Simon's memoirs, also part of Project Gutenberg's public-domain e-books. As a firsthand witness at court, Saint-Simon records what he saw in the late years of Louis XIV and the Regency, with a large cast of characters in whom ceremony, favor, faction, and family interest intertwine, and his narrative carries strong personal judgments. Volume 13 stands next to Volume 14 and is best read in sequence to grasp the author's full attitude toward the people and events of the same period. Its value lies in the concrete scenes it offers beyond institutional history: readers can see how power operated through everyday etiquette, private conversation, and court space. It should be read as biased testimony rather than neutral history; be wary of its judgments of character, and savor its details. Suitable as supplementary source material for students of French history, and for readers interested in the memoir form and court society who wish to read in selections.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the political culture of Louis XIV's court and the Regency
History students who need public-domain English primary sources
Readers who enjoy character portraits, ceremonial detail, and observations of power
Those who wish to read European court memoirs in selections

Not a good fit for

Readers who need a complete narrative arc or a novel-like reading experience
Beginners without a background in early modern French history who are unwilling to look up the figures
Rigorous researchers who prefer modern editions with notes and indexes

Reading tips

Read alongside Volume 14 to observe the author's consistent praise and blame of the same people and events.
Mark names and identities as you read, and consult a contemporary list of French court figures when necessary.
Record factual statements and the author's evaluations in separate columns to train a critical sense of sources.
Read one thematic passage at a time—ceremony, faction, or anecdote—to avoid fatigue from reading straight through.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Are Volumes 13 and 14 closely connected in content?

The two volumes are adjacent parts of a single memoir, with heavily overlapping people and periods, but each volume is not a strictly continuous plot. Reading them in sequence helps capture shifts in the author's attitude toward the same people and events; if time is limited, you can also read by theme without insisting on going from beginning to end.

Is Saint-Simon's narrative reliable?

Saint-Simon was a firsthand witness at court and provides a wealth of on-the-spot detail, but he has a pronounced aristocratic standpoint and personal likes and dislikes, and his judgments of character are often biased. Read his narrative as testimony rather than as settled fact; for key events, compare other sources or modern scholarship, and distinguish factual description from subjective judgment.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg is known for providing free public-domain e-books, and this volume is a public-domain text it has released. Its advantages are easy access and no cost; its limitations are that it usually lacks modern notes, an introduction, and an index. Readers who need it for research should supply their own background material or seek out a scholarly edition.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

The text is an English translation whose syntax and vocabulary carry a marked period and literary flavor, and the cast of characters is dense, so non-native readers may find it demanding. It is advisable to begin with the introduction or a sample passage, using a list of characters and background material; for casual reading, choose shorter, more focused passages.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de, 1675-1755 Author

Saint-Simon (Louis de Rouvroy, duc de, 1675–1755) was a French nobleman and memoirist, best known for his Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency. The collection holds 18 of his works, chiefly the complete memoirs and their individual volumes. Writing as an eyewitness, he records the political intrigues, personalities, and ceremonial details of Louis XIV's later court and the Regency, with a sharp, opinionated pen that combines historical value with literary flair. Public information about his life is limited, but this voluminous memoir alone secures him a distinctive place in French historical writing and the memoir tradition, offering later readers a vivid, highly personal testimony to the court society of the ancien régime.