
audiobook
by Mme. Du Hausset, princesse de Marie Thérèse Louise de Savoie-Carignan Lamballe
MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XV. AND XVI.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ADVERTISEMENT. - [FROM THE LONDON MAGAZINE, NO. III. NEW SERIES P. 439.]
INTRODUCTION.
SECRET MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XV., AND MEMOIRS OF MADAME DU HAUSSET.
SECRET COURT MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XVI. AND THE ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE
INTRODUCTION.
SECTION II. - JOURNAL COMMNENCED:
SECTION III.
SECTION IV.
In this intimate chronicle a lady’s maid to Madame de Pompadour recounts life behind the gilded doors of Versailles, offering a rare, ground‑level view of the French court at the height of Louis XV’s reign. Her observations capture the daily rhythms of power—whispers in corridors, the fevered gossip surrounding royal mistresses, and the subtle maneuverings of influential figures like Dr Quesnay, the king’s physician‑economist. The narrative is peppered with vivid anecdotes that illuminate the personalities and petty intrigues that shaped the era’s politics and culture.
The memoir continues into the turbulent years of Louis XVI, preserving the voice of a servant who witnessed the kingdom’s slow slide toward crisis. Readers hear candid accounts of court scandals, failed conspiracies, and the human side of iconic personalities such as Marie Antoinette and Princess Lamballe. Through her unvarnished notes, the work paints a vivid portrait of a world where grandeur and vulnerability coexist, inviting listeners to experience the pulse of 18th‑century France from an unexpected, trustworthy perspective.
Full title
Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI. — Complete Being secret memoirs of Madame Du Hausset, lady's maid to Madame de Pompadour, and of the Princess Lamballe
Language
en
Duration
~14 hours (848K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by David Widger
Release date
2004-08-25
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1713–1801
A close observer of life at the French court, this memoirist left a vivid account of Madame de Pompadour and the world around Louis XV. Her writing offers an intimate, ground-level view of power, favor, and daily life behind palace doors.
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1749–1792
A gentle, tragic figure of the French court, she is remembered as one of Marie Antoinette’s closest companions and as a victim of the French Revolution’s most violent days. Her life moved from aristocratic privilege to sudden widowhood, royal intimacy, and a shocking death that made her story unforgettable.
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