Joan DeJean è una studiosa di spicco il cui lavoro approfondisce il ricco arazzo della letteratura, della storia e della cultura materiale francese del XVII e XVIII secolo. Esplora magistralmente l'evoluzione di Parigi in una metropoli moderna e le origini di concetti che oggi diamo per scontati, come il comfort e lo stile. La scrittura di DeJean offre ai lettori un viaggio avvincente attraverso il modo in cui questi periodi storici hanno plasmato la vita e l'estetica contemporanee. Il suo approccio narrativo fonde perfettamente una meticolosa ricerca storica con un'accattivante esplorazione della trasformazione culturale.
Documents the century-long transformation of Paris from a medieval center to the modern city that is recognized today, revealing how the Parisian urban model was actually invented in the 1700s when period leaders tore down fortifications, created public parks and constructed streets and bridges. 25,000 first printing.
Paris, 1719. The stock market is surging and the world's first millionaires are buying everything in sight. Against this backdrop, two families, the Magoulets and the Chevrots, rose to prominence only to plummet in the first stock market crash. One family built its name on the burgeoning financial industry, the other as master embroiderers for Queen Marie-Th?r?se and her husband, King Louis XIV. Both patriarchs were ruthless money-mongers, determined to strike it rich by arranging marriages for their children. But in a Shakespearean twist, two of their children fell in love. To remain together, Louise Magoulet and Louis Chevrot fought their fathers' rage and abuse. A real-life heroine, Louise took on Magoulet, Chevrot, the police, an army regiment, and the French Indies Company to stay with the man she loved. Following these families from 1600 until the Revolution of 1789, Joan DeJean recreates the larger-than-life personalities of Versailles, where displaying wealth was a power game; the sordid cells of the Bastille; the Louisiana territory, where Frenchwomen were forcibly sent to marry colonists; and the legendary "Wall Street of Paris," Rue Quincampoix, a world of high finance uncannily similar to what we know now. The Queen's Embroiderer is both a story of star-crossed love in the most beautiful city in the world and a cautionary tale of greed and the dangerous lure of windfall profits. And every bit of it is true
Autorka, vyzbrojená nevšedními znalostmi o době vlády krále Slunce, nás zábavným způsobem provází časy, kdy tento francouzský panovník plnil své předsevzetí a z Paříže konce 17. století se stávala metropole módy, vkusu, elegance a půvabu. Zrodila se vytříbená kuchyně, vznikaly honosné kavárny, první šampaňské se ochutnávalo v lesku nově vyráběných zrcadel, ulice s prvním veřejným osvětlením lákaly k nočním toulkám i nákupům v klenotnictvích a v prvních buticích, vycházel první módní list a výzdoba interiérů se stala skutečným uměním. Všechny tyto a ještě další příjemné věci měly tehdy světovou premiéru…