From the Hôtel de Rambouillet through Madame de Sévigné and the précieuses to Du Deffand, Geoffrin, Julie de Lespinasse and Madame de Staël: how a form of conversation became an institution, what it took to hold one together, and how much of French literature and politics passed through those rooms.
The salon as a career, and the women who made it one. Download the free EPUB.