DANCING TO THE PRECIPICE: Lucie de la Tour du Pin and the French Revolution.
Pp. xvi+480, 15 plates (one double page), text illustrations, bibliography, source notes, time line, index; med. 8vo; black boards, spine lettered in gilt; dust wrapper; book label of David Levine, Sydney, on upper pastedown, edges of leaves a trifle foxed; Chatto & Windus, London, 2009. First edition. *Lucie de la Tour du Pin is remembered mainly for her memoirs, which she began writing when she was fifty. Born in 1770, she narrowly survived the French Revolution, escaping to America, 'where she milked cows, chopped wood and bought and freed a number of slaves. Later she fled to England where she helped support her family by sewing. Repeatedly in the right place at the right time, Lucie saw the storming of Versailles and the battle of Waterloo. She served at the courts of both Marie Antoinette and Napoleon's wife Josephine, and went with her husband, a diplomat, to Holland and the Kingdom of Sardinia' [wrapper blurb]. Item #178968
Price: $45.00