Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1691-1709: Presented to the King [Paperback]

Duc de Saint-Simon (Author), Lucy Norton (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2007

Wit, humor, vitriol and pageantry-the necessary hallmarks for a peer at the French court--also deliver a great read. Saint-Simon regales us with an irreverent, insider's view of his more than 30 years at court, from the later days of Louis XIV to the ascension of Louis XV. All the plays for power, sex, position and money by friends, enemies, nobles and others are here, with Saint-Simon's fascinating, and brutally honest, assessment of any situation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a fascinating memoir...entertaining, edifying, satisfying." -- Publisher's Weekly

"...the rich sensation of being back at Versailles under Louis the XIV...." -- The New York Review of Books

"Miss Norton has caught Saint-Simon alive...an English classic." -- Nancy Mitford

"Miss Norton's translation breathes excitement on each page..." -- Library Journal

"The Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon is not only great history, it's a great read! Lucy Norton's definitive translation brings this wonderful work to life for English-speaking readers. Saint-Simon is one of the most vivid---and witty---writers from history, and these lively memoirs are as compelling and enjoyable today as they were when he first chose to write down the story of day-to-day life, love, power, betrayal and intrigue at the Court of the Sun King, Louis XIV." -- Antonia Fraser, author of Love and Louis XIV

From the Author

"...as I propose to speak the exact truth I have let myself lose to say both good and evil precisely as they seem to me, about one and all; intending to satisfy my inclinations and passions in whatever truth will permit me to say;...I have not stopped to be careful of persons on any consideration whatever."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: 1500 Books (September 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933698144
• ISBN-13: 978-1933698144
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #963,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why we published the Memoirs of Duc de Saint Simon, October 30, 2007

By 

Eileen J. Bertelli "1500 Books" (Warwick, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1691-1709: Presented to the King (Paperback)

The first time my husband read the memoirs he couldn't stop quoting from them to me. Each day brought a new, interesting and usually funny anecdote from the squeaky-voiced, height-challenged, pomp and circumstance loving Duc. Loyal to a fault the Duc de Saint-Simon came of age during the reign of the French king, Louis XIII. Upon that king's death the era of the Sun King, Louis XIV began--a reign that lasted more than 30 years and was known for its opulence, corruption and debauchery. In passionate detail Saint-Simon provides an insider's look at the machinations of a royal court over the course of three kings and their wives, consorts, children, spiritual advisors, political consultants and hundreds, if not thousands of hangers-on. It's a fascinating journey and now that I've had the pleasure of reading Saint-Simon's trilogy for myself I find I can't stop telling his story. Over the years there have been a few English translations of Saint-Simon's original French work but this one by Lucy Norton is considered by most to be the definitive one. When my husband and I decided to start 1500 Books we felt that having Saint-Simon, as translated by Lucy Norton, on our list would be the jewel in the crown of our venture. We are delighted to bring these books to a new audience and we hope you share our enthusiasm. As Antonia Fraser, historian and best-selling author of Love and Louis XIV says of the Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, they are "...not only great history, [they are] a great read!"

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, April 15, 2009

By 

Julie SF Reader (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1691-1709: Presented to the King (Paperback)

I can't add anything to what the publisher, Eileen J Bertelli, says in her review above, but I thought that such a show-stopper of a book deserved more gushing.

So, I was rereading The Three Musketeers (and not enjoying it, for some reason) and thinking about how very foreign it was. Dumas in 1844 didn't write at all the way a person would now--the morality and outlook on life are different. The culture he wrote about--France in 1650--was so colorful and romantic...I wondered how much was true and how much was an 1844 invention?

Just as I was thinking that and my interest in royal France was all heightened, I ran across this book, Memoirs of Saint-Simon. This book takes place in France in 1700--so now instead of Louis XIII we are in the time of Louis XIV, the Sun King, the most famous and glamourous of royal courts--and was written at the time (obviously, since it's a memoir), so it's a chance to really get inside the alien head of someone from a different age.

I'd never heard of Saint-Simon before and I don't usually like biographies (I don't like the lack of plot) but I gave the book a try. It is just amazing. It is packed with fascinating and witty anecdotes. Saint-Simon gives so many details about life in the royal court of France. He doesn't just list events--he has strong feelings about what he thinks is right or wrong and that helps glue things together (I would think, oh, here he is complaining about the royal bastards again just like he always does, and here he is taking another opportunity to say how very much he admires that abbot guy, and so forth). Apparently Saint-Simon revised his memoirs constantly throughout his life, which I think meant that he was able to think for a long time about what events meant to him instead of just writing down his first impressions.

Since this is a memoir, it has its boring parts. There is lots of military stuff that I couldn't follow and lots of pages that were just names and names and names and my eyes glazed over. However, memoirs need that sort of stuff to get the reader immersed in the time period. There is really very little of it. It made me glad I was reading an abridged version, though, as I think the unabridged version--if it was even available in English--would be hard to slog through. Although now that I've read the abridged version and enjoyed it so thoroughly I probably would be interested in the unabridged version.

The footnotes are terse and enlightening. The index is wonderful. Whenever I lost track of what was going on, the index would clear things right up. For example, some Duke got married and everybody was making a big stink about it. Why? Aha, the index says that the Duke is the oldest son of the crown prince, hence the heir to the throne, so his bride is the future Queen of France. As another example, some army commander did a terrible job but nobody wanted to complain to the King about it. Why not? Oh, right, the index says this commander is the King's son.

There is also a wonderful page that lists "THE ROYAL FAMILY IN 1691" and a wonderful family tree of the mingled French and Spanish royal families.

I feel I should say something about the physical book. It's just your regular old modern oversized trade paperback, so by definition ugly, but somehow it seems to be up at the high end of such things. I think it is unusually appealing. The paper is reasonably thin and white and the binding is fine. The cover, with the solid color and writing on top and the painting on the bottom, and the solid color being carried over to the back, is handsome. The thickness of the book is in a good ratio to the height and the thickness is enough to have a pretty spine with writing at the top and a picture on the bottom. Inside, the fonts are appealingly varied. Big friendly welcoming letters for the title page, a good worksmanlike font for the meat of the book, a smaller font for the index with capitol letters that jump out a little, tiny footnotes (which never overwhelm the page since they are terse and sparse), small capitols for the top of the page ( "MEMOIRS OF SAINT-SIMON" on one side and the year on the other, so the page tops slowly change from 1691 to 1709, neither boringly constant nor distractingly changeable), nice italics for the chapter summaries at the beginning of each chapter.....and the table of contents is pretty, and the family tree I mentioned above is wonderful, and the list of the members of the royal family is nicely laid out...really I think its just a nice book to handle.

So, this book is just wonderful. A great read of unique historical significance. I'm about to start reading the second book in the series. I think I shall poke around and try to find some more books about this fascinating time and place.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memoires beaucoup, October 30, 2008

By 

Richard Stewart (Beaufort, SC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon, 1691-1709: Presented to the King (Paperback)

I was introduced to these memoires through a review by the incomperable Joseph Epstein. This is the first volume of three, each 500 or so substantial pages. As the blurb says, "a terrific read." Anyone interested in the court of Louis XIV (and who isn't?) must get this set. The good duc spent 30 years writing it without expectation of it's being published--at least in his lifetime. Do him and yourself a favor.