Panorama of Paris offers English-language readers an
introduction to one of the forgotten masterpieces of French
literature, Louis-Sebastien Mercier's twelve-volume Le Tableau de
Paris (published from 1781 to 1788), an important and original work
that helped shape many kinds of French writing. Colorfully written,
the text provides a fascinating portrait of everyday life in Paris
on the eve of the French Revolution, describing the interactions of
workers, street peddlers, prostitutes, police spies, actresses,
noblemen, parish priests, servants, and criminals. Based on Helen
Simpson's lively 1933 abridged translation, this edition includes
seven newly translated chapters and an introduction by Jeremy D.
Popkin.
Earlier authors had described Paris's monuments and the lives of
its wealthy elites, but Mercier was the first to try to capture in
words the texture of its everyday life. His text, contemporary with
Rousseau's Confessions, is the first attempt to write the
autobiography of a unique urban community. His writing deeply
influenced Balzac and other nineteenth-century French novelists and
continues to serve as a major source of social and cultural history
for French historians.
Panorama of Paris will fascinate all lovers of Paris and its
history. It should be of special interest to students of French
literature and history, and to anyone interested in the origins of
modern attitudes toward city life.
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