Tag: Louis XIV

The aesthetic legacy of this monarch, known as the Sun King, is Louis XIV style. He just happens to be one of my favorite tastemakers throughout history to include in my literary design encounters, details about his life so accessible thanks to a three-volume set of beautifully ragged books I own titled Memoirs of Louis XIV and the Regency.

The books, written by another Louis—the duc de Saint-Simon, who is known as one of the world’s great memoirists—are filled with remarkable details about the actions and habits of the court during Louis XIV’s time, the last volume covering the years when Louis XV—the Sun King’s great grandson—was doted upon as a Prince of the blood.

The spine of Volume II cracks angrily when I open it to the chapter in which Saint-Simon describes the birth of the baby Prince: “On Saturday, the 15^th of February, the King was waked up [sic] at seven o’clock in the morning, an hour earlier than usual, because Madame la Duchesse de Bourgogne was in the pains of labor. He dressed himself diligently in order to go to her. She did not keep him waiting long. At three minutes and three seconds after eight o’clock, she brought into the world a Duc d’Anjou, who is the King Louise XV, at present reigning, which caused a great joy.” I relish having access to such material to explore in my own quirky way on The Modern Salonière.