Madame du Deffand and Her World

By Benedetta Craveri

Subjects: French Society Hostess, France, social life and customs, Parisian Salons, Biography, Authors, biography, French Salons, France, court and courtiers, Voltaire, Authors, french, France, history, 18th century, New York Times reviewed, Social life and customs, Authors, French, Court and courtiers, French Authors, History, Horace Walpole

Description: Biography of Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, Madame du Deffand. Madame du Deffand, a popular and influential Parisian salon hostess, was widely respected for her keen wit and intellect, and she was a prolific correspondent with a number of notable thought & literary figures of her time. Her letters to people such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Fontenelle were published after her death by close friend Horace Walpole. Author Benedetta Craveri, a professor of French literature, originally published the biography in Italian as "Madame du Deffand e il suo mondo" in 1982. She won awards for the work in Italy & France - this U.S. edition & English translation was published a little over a decade later in 1994.