The Characters is a collection of moral essays and satirical portraits by Jean de La Bruyère. It observes vanity, ambition, conversation, women, wealth, and human nature in 17th-century court and town life with wit and irony. It is worth listening for its sharp insight and vivid picture of a society.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
THE “CHARACTERS”
OF
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
PUBLISHERʼS NOTE.
Three hundred copies of this book printed for England, and two hundred, with an American imprint, for sale in that country. No more will be printed.
No. 13
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
THE “CHARACTERS”
OF
JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE
NEWLY RENDERED INTO ENGLISH
BΏ HENRI VAN LAUN
With an Introduction, a Biographical Memoir and Notes
ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY-FOUR ETCHINGS
BΏ B. DAMMAN ĵƿŠ V. FOULQUIER
LONDON JOHN C. NIMMO 14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1885 LOGO CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 11 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR 26 PREFACE i OF WORKS OF THE MIND 7 OF PERSONAL MERIT 39 OF WOMEN 58 OF THE AFFECTIONS 86 OF SOCIETY AND OF CONVERSATION 100 OF THE GIFTS OF FORTUNE 132 OF THE TOWN 164 OF THE COURT 183 OF THE GREAT 221 OF THE SOVEREIGN AND THE STATE 245 OF MANKIND 271 OF OPINIONS 328 OF FASHION 377 OF CERTAIN CUSTOMS 403 OF THE PULPIT 442
OF FREETHINKERS 459 EMBELISHMENT LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS. Etchings—Portraits. PAGE JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE Frontispiece MONTAIGNE 23 DESCARTES 151 LE BRUN 236 LOUIS XIV. 270 WILLIAM III. 374 BOSSUET 453 Etchings—Vignettes. PAGE THE AUTHOR i STUDY 7 TIRED OUT 39 THE TOILETTE 58 AFFECTION 86 SOCIETY 100 RUSTIC COURTSHIP 132 THE TUILERIES 164 THE COURT 183 THE GREAT 221 10THE PRICE OF GLORY 245
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