About the Author

The celebrated French critic and thinker Charles de Saint-Evremond (1614-1703) spent much of his life in exile in London, where he wrote most of his major works.

The Collection

The letters in the present collection, long thought to have been lost, were rescued from obscurity by Denys Potts, and are published here for the first time.

Content and Significance

Written to Madame de Gouville, whose friendship he happily rediscovered in his declining years, and to the Abbe de Hautefeuille, secretary to the Duchesse de Bouillon, the two series of interwoven letters form a single narrative which, for sheer spontaneity and verve, is matched only by the letters of Madame de Sevigne.

This edition represents the largest single discovery of Saint-Evremond letters, and includes many that were previously inaccessible in private collections.