Tea at Trianon: Marie-Antoinette's Private Library

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Marie-Antoinette's Private Library

In her apartments at Versailles. The Queen enjoyed novels but among her books are also many works of history and religious devotion. Share

6 comments:

andrew1860 said...: I love this room as I have been here a few times on tour. This room still has the original keys in the book cases in the shape of the Habsburg double headed eagle!; July 31, 2012 at 8:08:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: That is interesting to know!; July 31, 2012 at 10:21:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: Thank you for your great posts. With all of the egalitarianism so pervasive in today's society, it is nice to see how former generations lived: with style, class, and culture.

With all the books that I have in my house I too need a library.; July 31, 2012 at 1:45:00 PM EDT
May said...: I think she would have been touched by your novels, Elena!; July 31, 2012 at 1:52:00 PM EDT
Aron said...: I have no doubt that she *is* touched by your novels, Elena! :) Just think what it will be like, when one day we behold not only the face of Christ--which is the most desired of all--but our loved ones who have gone on before, including those that we have loved across the span of centuries!; May 28, 2013 at 10:42:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you, how sweet!!; May 28, 2013 at 11:13:00 PM EDT