treasure for your pleasure

(originally posted at reading treasure) I really loved this...

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:35:38 -0400

(originally posted at reading treasure)

I really loved this “library poetry” concept that has been going around a lot of book blogs recently, which I believed started over at In the Labyrinth. If you haven’t heard of the “What Is Your Library Saying?” concept yet, what it boils down to is this: you use the book titles in your library to create a poem of sorts.

This is what I came up with:

\Marie Antoinette,
Marie Antoinette.
The last time I saw Paris—
Revolution;
The fall of the blade.
The sparks fly upward.

tiny-librarian: deuscapeta: I finally got around to scanning...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:20:41 -0400

tiny-librarian:

deuscapeta:

I finally got around to scanning my Junior “thesis”/Junior project from back in April!

Our theme was “Kings and Queens” and these were our guidelines:

“The most important rule this year is that your character (or characters) MUST BE REAL! They must have drawn breath! Therefore legendary, mythic or imaginary characters are not to be used. However, they do not have to be actual monarchs. If you wish, you can design projects around those who are the kings and queens of their field: Edison as the king of inventors, Elvis as the king of Rock and Roll, Sarah Bernhardt as the queen of the stage, etc.”

We had the entire academic year to complete eight finished works. I went with a really obscure queen, Marie Antoinette…you may have heard about her before, probably not though…

Medium: Dip pen and ink.

This is amazing!

Marie Antoinette

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:54:08 -0400

Marie Antoinette

The Rose of Versailles Takarazuka Marie Antoinette dress...

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:20:30 -0400

The Rose of Versailles Takarazuka Marie Antoinette dress charm

image: tca pictures

A virtual tour of the current Madame Elisabeth exhibition at her...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:34:25 -0400

A virtual tour of the current Madame Elisabeth exhibition at her estate of Montreuil!

A wonderful option for those of us who can’t make it to the real thing.

Versailles (by Jason Pier in DC)

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:04:14 -0400

Versailles (by Jason Pier in DC)

A trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts makes everything better!...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:57:21 -0400

A trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts makes everything better! Here’s a photo of my favorite corner, with a chest of drawers (bottom left) that was once in both Madame Elisabeth and Louis XVI’s apartments and an 18th century Italian bust of Louis XVI.

tiny-librarian: Allegorical picture made to celebrate the birth...

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:22:19 -0400

tiny-librarian:

Allegorical picture made to celebrate the birth of Louis Joseph, showing Marie Antoinette handing the Dauphin to France.

Source

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun on Madame Elisabeth, the sister of Louis...

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:47:06 -0400

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun on Madame Elisabeth, the sister of Louis XVI:

The features of [Madame Elisabeth] were not regular, but her face expressed gentle affability, and the freshness of her complexion was remarkable; altogether, she had the charm of a pretty shepherdess. She was an angel of goodness. Many a time have I been a witness to her deeds of charity on behalf of the poor. All the virtues were in her heart: she was indulgent, modest, compassionate, devoted.

Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their firstborn son—film...

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:13:41 -0400

Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their firstborn son—film (Sofia Coppola) and contemporary (18th century) comparison.

Yuri Shirahane as Marie Antoinette (Rose of Versailles: Fersen...

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:40:06 -0400

Yuri Shirahane as Marie Antoinette (Rose of Versailles: Fersen and Marie Antoinette, 2006)

Image Credit: Le Cinq

fyfurdresses: Just for the hell of it, I’ll spend the next few...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:07:05 -0400

fyfurdresses:

Just for the hell of it, I’ll spend the next few days posting pictures of the many other pretty dresses in Rose of Versailles. I won’t bother rating them, just to save time.

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:33:37 -0400

Added this lovely postcard of the princesse de Lamballe to my...

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:12:17 -0400

Added this lovely postcard of the princesse de Lamballe to my collection! It is from a lovely vintage set of postcards meant to advertise the shampoo company, Petrole Hahn. I also purchased the Marie Antoinette card from the same set, which is on its way.

source: my scan

[When Marie Antoinette spoke,” I have a thousand times...

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:27:03 -0400

[When Marie Antoinette spoke,” I have a thousand times seen [Louis XVI]’s eyes and face light up with a love and enthusiasm which even the most beloved of mistresses could hardly hope to inspire.”

—the Baron de Besenval on Louis XVI’s love for his wife.

messages

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:37:11 -0400

(Sorry for being so late on some of these! It’s not that I don’t like and appreciate messages, but in the past few weeks I’ve been feeling randomly anxious and procrastinating…ly.)

ladyprincessgirl40 asked you:

Do you think monarchy should come back in France ?

Should? Nope. If by some millimeter slim chance people in France randomly decided that they wanted a monarchy, then all right. Otherwise, nah. (Aka ‘no I do not advocate any Frenchmen taking up the white flag and raising an army of historical bloggers to try to take back the throne of France.’)

Anonymous asked you:

have you read a lot of books about marie antoinette? you should post some of your favorite quotes from books about her!

Not as many as I’d like! I’m beyond on my Marie Antoinette reading… I do post quotes now and then, though! :) They’ll be under ‘books’ or ‘quotes.’ Or sometimes both!

Anonymous asked you:

What is the second set of gifs from in the last gif set you posted?

La Revolution Francaise.

makeeverydayahappyday asked you:

haha omg Historical Telephone would be a hilarious game :’)

Ia! One of these days we should all play it for fun.

Anonymous asked you:

Hello! Seeing your photo of the Marie Antoinette busts reminded me of the MA exhibition I saw at the Grand Palais, there was a group of busts together (like in that photo) but I vaguely remember there being a notice saying that there was one in particular that was agreed by most people to resemble the queen the most, although my problem now is that I can’t remember which one! Just wondering if you ever heard anything similar or perhaps one of your readers was at the exhibition and remembers?

Hmm! Unfortunately I don’t have a Grand Palais exhibition book anymore, otherwise it might be in there. I know the Boizot busts, one of which is currently on display at the Louvre, are considered very fine. But I’m not sure if they’re considered the most accurate…

mmeroyale asked you:

hey dear! do you happen to have the link to the trailer of ” Versailles, another visit”?

Here you go! http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-francophone/cultures/p-24817-Versailles.htm

mmeroyale asked you:

also what’s your opinion on Stefan Zweig’s book? I’m just getting through it now and I’m not sure how I like it. So far just seems like he has a lot of pre-conceptions about her personality and her actions, i don’t know…

To my shame, I haven’t read the Zweig book straight through yet, as lately I’ve been reading my history books in pieces (early chapter here, later chapter there, etc). I don’t know. I do appreciate that Zweig tried to look at her life through a more human perspective, but I don’t like how he essentially applied a Freudian-style theory to everything she did. “She gambled and didn’t want to be bored because her love life wasn’t satisfactory!” Well, what about all the courtiers who were having ample love lives but participated in the same exact activities? Etc. It would be one thing if it was limited solely to Zweig’s biography, but Zweig essentially launched the earlier modern “Marie Antoinette” historiography and so many books and fictional portrayals—and even biographical studies, like Fraser’s—have so much of a basis on his theories, which I don’t always find satisfactory.

Anonymous asked you:

hello! how is Antoinette’s biography by Zweig? I stumbled upon it this weekend and I am regretting not picking it up, is it good?

See previous message!

—Marie Antoinette (1938)

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:20:26 -0400

—Marie Antoinette (1938)

“The Orphans of the Temple.” An engraving of...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:47:26 -0400

“The Orphans of the Temple.” An engraving of Louis-Charles and Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the children of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. 19th century.

source: priceminister.com

My place is here with my husband. —Marie Antoinette...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:14:39 -0400

My place is here with my husband.

—Marie Antoinette (2006)

Marie Antoinette’s Grotto (by nerdyblerg)

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:41:11 -0400

Marie Antoinette’s Grotto (by nerdyblerg)