Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet

MS received an education in literature and culture by frequenting the society of the Hôtel de Rambouillet in Paris, run by the Marquise de Rambouillet (1588-1665): this was the earliest of the famous Paris salons.

In her second rue de Richelieu, residence, ATL established a Tuesday salon which became, especially after 1710, a leader in French society and culture. She sought to emulate the salons of the marquise de Rambouillet

HM sets her narrative during a period of female learning and literary productivity in seventeenth-century France. Madeleine Toqueville, a young girl, moves with her parents from their provincial home to Paris, where Madeleine's erotic...

The Author's Preface to Réflexions begins disarmingly with the writer following her rambling thoughts, but shifts to a muted challenge when she declares herself offended to see Men so blind to their own interest, as...