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J. Christopher Herold vigorously tells the story of the fierce Madame de Stael, revealing her courageous opposition to Napoleon, her whirlwind affairs with the great intellectuals of her day, and her idealistic rebellion against all that was cynical, tyrannical, and passionless. Germaine de Stael's father was Jacques Necker, the finance minister to Louis XVI, and her mother ran an influential literary-political salon in Paris. Always precocious, at nineteen Germaine married the Swedish ambassador to France, Eric Magnus Baron de Stael-Holstein, and in 1785 took over her mother's salon with great success. Germaine and de Stael lived most of their married life apart. She had many brilliant lovers. Talleyrand was the first, Narbonne, the minister of war, another; Benjamin Constant was her most significant and long-lasting one. She published several political and literary essays, including "A Treatise on the Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and of Nations," which became one of the most important documents of European Romanticism. Her bold philosophical ideas, particularly those in "On Literature," caused feverish commotion in France and were quickly noticed by Napoleon, who saw her salon as a rallying point for the opposition. He eventually exiled her from France. This winner of the 1959 National Book Award is "excellent ... detailed, full of color, movement, great names, and lively incident" -- The New York Times "Mr. Herold's full-bodied biography is clear-eyed, intelligent, and written with abundant wit and zest."
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Biography, French Authors, Intellectual life, Intellectuals, Women, Biographies, Femmes écrivains, Intellectuelles, Écrivains français, Écrivaines françaises, Stael, madame de (anne-louise-germaine), 1766-1817, Intellectuals, france, Authors, french, Biografie, French Women authors, Women intellectualsPeople
Anne Louise Germaine (Necker) baronne de, 1766-1817 Stael-Holstein, Staël Madame de (1766-1817), Staël, de Madame (1766-1817), Germaine de Staël-Holstein (1766-1817)Places
FranceTimes
19th century, 19e siècleShowing 3 featured editions. View all 16 editions?
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1
Mistress to an age: a life of Madame de Staël
2002, Grove Press
in English
- 1st Grove Press ed.
0802138373 9780802138378
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2
Mistress to an Age: A Life of Madame de Staël
1981, Time-Life Books
Hardback
in English
080943654X 9780809436545
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Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 477-486) and index.
Originally published: Indianapolis : Bobbs-Merrill Co., c1958.
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- Created April 1, 2008
- 12 revisions
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