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Balzac's love affairs and his epistolary romance with Evelina Hanska
The notion that Balzac remained a virgin until the age of forty, and that he is forever being dragged into all manner of lists of celibates, deserves to be treated with suspicion. It is especially odd, of course, to imagine that he could have lost his virginity at forty: potbellied,
NB! · Architecture · Books · Museums · People
Balzac's Drawing Room and Bedroom at the Château de Saché, Where He Lived for Seven Years
The modest drawing room of the small Château de Saché, where Balzac lived for seven years. His bedroom under the attic is far humbler still: a bed and a table in a cramped little room. But a fair number of the writer's personal belongings have survived here
NB! · Architecture · Books · People
The Château de Saché belonged to a friend of Balzac's father; the writer lived here for a time and wrote "Père Goriot" and "The Lily of the Valley"
The Château de Saché belonged to a friend of Balzac's father; the writer lived here for a time and wrote "Père Goriot" and "The Lily of the Valley". Balzac was perpetually short of money, and either borrowed from friends or begged a roof
NB! · Archive · Books · Mores · People
Proofs of “The Lily of the Valley” with Balzac’s Corrections and the Women Behind Its Heroines
"The Lily of the Valley" with Balzac's corrections before printing. In this novel he portrayed the ladies he loved: Laure de Berny as Madame de Mortsauf and Countess Sara Guidoboni-Visconti as Lady Arabella Dudley
NB! · Monarchies · Mores · People
The lovely daughter of the King of Poland, Marie Leszczyńska, became Queen of France, but was made wretched by the countless infidelities of Louis XV
The lovely daughter of the King of Poland, Marie Leszczyńska, became Queen of France, but was made wretched by the countless infidelities of Louis XV. One of his mistresses was the far less attractive Madame de Pompadour
NB! · Science · Paris · People
And this is for you, in honour of the 270th anniversary of the birth of Louis-Abraham Breguet, who for many years worked in his stepfather's watchmaking workshop entirely for free: the man knew that in the end the boy would get his due
NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies · People
The Last Artefact of the Day: An Authentic Manuscript of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, Brother of Louis XIII, Who Lived and Died in Blois
Aristocracy · Faith · Monarchies · Heritage · People
The heart of Anne of Brittany in its reliquary and its fate during the Revolution
Besides her political testament, Anne of Brittany left a worldly one: the Duchess asked that her heart be carried home to her native land and buried where her parents lay. The heart was placed in a golden reliquary measuring 15*12 cm, crowned with a coronet of clover leaves and
NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Monarchies · People
Nantes Castle, where Anne of Brittany was born (1)
Nantes Castle, where Anne of Brittany was born (1). The portal commemorating the wedding of Anne and Louis XII at the Château de Blois (2). A coin minted by Anne in Brittany (3). The royal tomb at Saint-Denis (4). Anne with her son, medal (5)
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · People
Anne of Brittany, heiress of the duchy who married two kings of France
The only daughter of Duke Francis II was born in the castle of the Dukes of Brittany at Nantes and in time, the ruler having no sons, became by decision of the nobility the heiress of Brittany. This made her one of the most powerful women of her age and
NB! · Archaeology · Art · Museums · Paris · People
4 January: the birth of Vivant Denon, artist, Egyptologist, collector and first director of the Louvre
4 January: the birth of Vivant Denon, artist, Egyptologist, collector and first director of the Louvre. He accompanied Napoleon on the Egyptian campaign and, in his spare time, cultivated the friendship of Catherine the Great and Madame de Pompadour