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23 notes

“You should not be out here at this hour, exposed to the fury of such a storm. I beg you, permit me to take you to some friends.” In answer, she merely pointed to the guillotine, and shook her head. “I have no friend on earth.” One of my favorite stories when I was younger was a retelling of “The Adventure of the German Student,” by Washington Irving, as found in Short & Shivery: Forty-Five Chilling Tales. One of the reasons it’s always stuck with me is this lovely illustration, which I’ve scanned.

“You should not be out here at this hour, exposed to the fury of such a storm. I beg you, permit me to take you to some friends.”

In answer, she merely pointed to the guillotine, and shook her head. “I have no friend on earth.”

One of my favorite stories when I was younger was a retelling of “The Adventure of the German Student,” by Washington Irving, as found in Short & Shivery: Forty-Five Chilling Tales. One of the reasons it’s always stuck with me is this lovely illustration, which I’ve scanned.

Filed under french revolution halloween ghosts guillotine books short and shivery

25 notes

For a whole week we never alluded to that afternoon, nor did I think about it until I began writing a descriptive letter of our expeditions of the week before. As the scenes came back one by one, the same sensation of dreamy unnatural oppression came over me so strongly that I stopped writing and said to Miss Lamont, “Do you think that the Petit Trianon is haunted?” Her answer was prompt, “Yes, I do.” The Moberly–Jourdain incident, or the “Ghosts of the Petit Trianon” is a highly curious (and highly criticized) account of two Englishwomen’s ghostly encounter at the Petit Trianon in 1901. The work is heavily criticized not only because anything supernatural - and anything supernatural involving a famous figure - is bound to be ridiculed and questioned, but of the various discrepancies in their published account from 1901 and their more famous publication in 1911. The women clearly researched the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette between these periods, leading to more accuracy and detail in the account than before. One interesting theory of their initial encounter is that they stumbled upon the eccentric playing of those who enjoyed dressing up in 18th century period costume and putting on tableaux performances — this detail, in particular, would make much sense of a scene in the account that recalls things looked “unnatural” and as if the trees surrounding a group of people in period clothing seemed fake. You can read the 1913 edition of their story, titled “An adventure,” for free here.

For a whole week we never alluded to that afternoon, nor did I think about it until I began writing a descriptive letter of our expeditions of the week before. As the scenes came back one by one, the same sensation of dreamy unnatural oppression came over me so strongly that I stopped writing and said to Miss Lamont, “Do you think that the Petit Trianon is haunted?”

Her answer was prompt, “Yes, I do.”

The Moberly–Jourdain incident, or the “Ghosts of the Petit Trianon” is a highly curious (and highly criticized) account of two Englishwomen’s ghostly encounter at the Petit Trianon in 1901. The work is heavily criticized not only because anything supernatural - and anything supernatural involving a famous figure - is bound to be ridiculed and questioned, but of the various discrepancies in their published account from 1901 and their more famous publication in 1911. The women clearly researched the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette between these periods, leading to more accuracy and detail in the account than before.

One interesting theory of their initial encounter is that they stumbled upon the eccentric playing of those who enjoyed dressing up in 18th century period costume and putting on tableaux performances — this detail, in particular, would make much sense of a scene in the account that recalls things looked “unnatural” and as if the trees surrounding a group of people in period clothing seemed fake.

You can read the 1913 edition of their story, titled “An adventure,” for free here.

Filed under marie antoinette versailles petit trianon history ghosts ghost stories