MITFORD, NANCY — Voltaire in Love

Hamish Hamilton - London. 1957. Hardcover with dust jacket, 22.5cm. Ill.: Beaton (dj). Book, First Edition, 288pp with bw illust throughout, dj spotty atop (see pic), dj illus by Cecil Beaton. Pinkish publisher's original strawberry cloth covers, gilt and powder blue title. Here's the gen >>> In 1733, the lovely, intelligent, and married Marquise du Châtelet commenced her romance with one François-Marie Arouet, a philosophe who had made a name for himself as "Voltaire." Mitford deftly and engagingly recounts their exemplary affair, whether in studious exile in the country, on the run from the censor, or in the "thoughtless circles of high society." Her portrayals of the "scamp" philosopher, his mistress who was "excessive in everything," and their "irregular century" are delightful portraits in themselves and as a group, a fascinating fresco of the French Enlightenment. Excellent/Good/Fair in Protective Cover.