French History Grand Siècle Louis XIV Boulenger Decorative Leather Louis XIV

by Jacques Boulenger

$53 · Offered by eBay

.no-subscribe { display: none} [contenteditable] { pointer-events: none; } Le Grand Siècle par Jacques Boulenger Paris: Librairie Hachette, neuvième édition. Dans la collection : L'Histoire de France racontée à tous, publiée sous la direction de Fr. Funck-Brentano. French language edition. Very good half leather bound hardcover, solid binding, clean text without marks. Octavo format, popular historical work, decorative endpapers, 426 pages, undated circa 1915. Jacques Boulenger's Le Grand Siècle first appeared in 1911 as part of Frantz Funck-Brentano's ambitious "L'Histoire de France racontée à tous" series, a groundbreaking attempt to democratize French historical scholarship for the general public. This ninth edition represents the enduring popularity of Boulenger's elegant synthesis of the seventeenth century, the golden age of French cultural supremacy under Louis XIV. Writing in the early twentieth century, when France was grappling with its identity amid rising German power, Boulenger crafted a narrative that celebrated the Sun King's era as the pinnacle of French civilization, when Versailles dazzled Europe and French became the language of diplomacy and culture. Contemporary reviewers praised Boulenger's "style ferme et coloré, mais suffisamment sobre," noting that unlike typical academic manuals, "M. B. est un écrivain"—a literary craftsman who understood that history must captivate to educate. His approach balanced scholarly rigor with narrative flair, chronicling t

• Publisher: Fr. Funck-Brentano
• Year: 1915
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.