I am not aware that he has ever been laughed at; certainly never to the extent which he deserves. The flatterers of his day, inevitable products of his reign, did their work so thoroughly that even in secret they do not appear to have dared to utter - possibly they did not even dare to think - the truth about him. Their work survives, and when you have assessed the monstrous flattery at its true worth, swept it aside and come down to the real facts of his life, you make the discovery that the proudest title their sycophancy ...
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I am not aware that he has ever been laughed at; certainly never to the extent which he deserves. The flatterers of his day, inevitable products of his reign, did their work so thoroughly that even in secret they do not appear to have dared to utter - possibly they did not even dare to think - the truth about him. Their work survives, and when you have assessed the monstrous flattery at its true worth, swept it aside and come down to the real facts of his life, you make the discovery that the proudest title their sycophancy could bestow and his own fatuity accept - Le Roi Soleil, the Sun-King - makes him what indeed he is: a king of opera bouffe. There is about him at times something almost reminiscent of the Court buffoons of a century before, who puffed themselves out with mock pride, and aped a sort of sovereignty to excite laughter; with this difference, however, that in his own case it was not intended to be amusing. A heartless voluptuary of mediocre intelligence, he contrived to wrap himself in what Saint-Simon has called a "terrible majesty." Hewas obsessed by the idea of the dignity, almost the divinity - of kingship. I cannot believe that he conceived himself human. He appears to have held that being king was very like being God, and he duped the world by ceremonials of etiquette that were very nearly sacramental. We find him burdening the most simple and personal acts of everyday life with a succession of rites of an amazing complexity. Thus, when he rose in the morning, princes of the blood and the first gentlemen of France were in attendance: one to present to him his stockings, another to proffer on bended knee the royal garters, a third to perform the ceremony of handing him his wig, and so on until the toilette of his plump, not unhandsome person was complete. You miss the incense, you feel that some noble thurifer should have fumigated him at each stage. Perhaps he never thought of it.
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Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment to cart. $12.87, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2017 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment to cart. $15.00, good condition, Sold by Rob & June Edwards rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Salem, OR, UNITED STATES, published 1939 by Garden City.
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Seller's Description:
Good in Good jacket. Book Bookclub ed. Combined 1st and 2nd series. Good/Good condition, moderate over all wear to book and dustjacket, name and date written on FEP, damage to upper spine of DJ.
Add this copy of Historical Nights' Entertainment, the to cart. $15.00, good condition, Sold by Austin Book Shop LLC rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Richmond Hill, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1939 by Garden City Publishing.
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Good, Some Dampstain. Worn, Frayed and Chipped DJ. Top of backstrip/spine frayed. Wear to lower corners, some board exposed. 816pp. "Thrilling stories of European intrigue-plot and counterplot in ten countries". The first and second series in one volume.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights Entertainment to cart. $15.26, very good condition, Sold by Zardoz Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Westbury, WILTS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1930 by Hutchinson.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment Series II to cart. $20.00, very good condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1919 by Hutchinson.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment to cart. $20.57, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2023 by Legare Street Press.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment to cart. $23.34, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2018 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment 1 to cart. $26.67, new condition, Sold by Paperbackshop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensenville, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2019 by HardPress Publishing.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment to cart. $27.43, new condition, Sold by Paperbackshop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensenville, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by HardPress Publishing.
Add this copy of The Historical Nights' Entertainment to cart. $30.01, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2023 by Legare Street Press.
