Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI. — Volume 4

Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan, Princesse de LamballeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2

Word count: 107K words
Chapters: 11

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 the Courts of Louis XV and XVI. — Volume 4 by Du Hausset and LamballeAuthor: Lamballe, Marie Thérèse Louise de Savoie-Carignan, princesse de, 1749-1792,Language: English, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Dec 3, 2004

Editor's review

This is the public-domain English text of Volume 4 of Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI, released by Project Gutenberg. As a middle volume in the series, it continues the eyewitness court narrative, presenting figures, scenes of daily life, and the political atmosphere at Versailles; it is useful for understanding how the French court operated and spoke before the Revolution. Its strength lies in the immediacy and density of detail that the memoir form provides, making it suitable as a supplementary source for topical reading rather than a standalone work of historical scholarship. Readers should note the narrator's standpoint and period limitations and remain cautious about the judgments of persons offered here. The English carries an eighteenth-century style, so non-native readers may benefit from background materials. Overall it suits readers with some grounding in modern French history who wish to extend their study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Advanced readers interested in court figures and everyday history before the French Revolution
Researchers gathering firsthand narrative sources on the eighteenth-century French court
History enthusiasts comfortable with public-domain English texts who are willing to read alongside background materials
History students in Chinese and foreign-history programs who need supplementary course sources

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic introduction to modern French history from scratch
Rigorous researchers who require modern scholarly annotation and factual verification
Casual readers who prefer light reading without engaging with period English vocabulary

Reading tips

Read earlier volumes in the series and learn the main figures first to reduce difficulties in following the narrative.
Keep a simple chart of relationships as you read to help distinguish roles and allegiances at court.
Read alongside general-history chapters on the eve of the French Revolution to identify differences between memoir narrative and historical fact.
Do not parse archaic English word by word; grasp the paragraph's gist first, then return to check key terms.

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

What is this volume of memoirs mainly about?

It is the public-domain English text of Volume 4 of Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI, narrating court figures, scenes of daily life, and political atmosphere from an eyewitness perspective. It is a historical memoir, not a systematic scholarly study of French history.

Is it suitable as an introductory book on French history?

Not really. It is a middle volume of memoirs, lacking a general historical framework and scholarly annotation; beginners may struggle with names and background events. Readers are advised to start with a general history of modern France before turning to this book.

Do I need to verify historical facts while reading?

Caution is advisable. Memoirs carry the narrator's standpoint and period limitations, and judgments of persons and details of events may not fully match historical fact; reading alongside general histories or critical editions is safer.

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

Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan, Princesse de Lamballe Author · Italian-French · 1749–1792

Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan, Princesse de Lamballe (1749–1792), was an Italian-French court figure and the closest friend of Queen Marie Antoinette. Her salon served as a meeting place between the Queen and constitutional royalists. During the French Revolution she was imprisoned and killed in the September Massacres of 1792. The library holds nine works attributed to her, chiefly the volumes and complete edition of Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI. These are court memoirs offering an eyewitness view of court life and the upheavals of the Revolution, and they remain a reference for understanding that era. Public information about her is limited, and details of her life rest largely on such memoir literature.