L'oeuvre du comte de Mirabeau

This collection gathers the seldom‑read, provocative writings of the eighteenth‑century French statesman whose public career eclipsed his private passions. Presented with detailed annotations by the Chevalier de Pierrugues and introduced by the poet‑critic Guillaume Apollinaire, the volume assembles essays, dialogues and playful treatises that explore the art of love, the shifting pleasures of desire, and the paradoxes of moral liberty. The texts range from witty sketches on the education of a young woman to daring reflections on the nature of pleasure itself, all rendered in the elegant, sometimes ribald style of the period.

The opening section offers a concise biography that deliberately sidesteps Mirabeau’s well‑known political exploits, focusing instead on his turbulent years of confinement and his unexpected literary correspondence with the infamous Marquis de Sade. Apollinaire’s notes illuminate the social and philosophical backdrop of the French Enlightenment, helping listeners appreciate the daring humor and the subtle critique of authority that run through these works. The result is a vivid portrait of a man navigating personal desire against the rigid structures of his time.