{"product_id":"9781582342603","title":"Grandes Horizontales : The Lives and Legends of Four Nineteenth-Century Courtesans","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eGrandes Horizontales\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Virginia Rounding\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA fascinating portrayal of the lives of the great nineteenth-century courtesans. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarie  Duplessis, Cora Pearl, La Païva and La Présidente, the four women whose  lives and legends are examined in this fascinating book, were all  representatives of the golden age of the French courtesan. In the reign  of Emperor Napoleon III the opulent and pampered demimonde became almost  indistinguishable from the haut-monde, with mythical reputations  growing up around its most glittering and favored celebrities. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarie Duplessis became the prototype of the virtuous courtesan when Alexandre Dumas Fils portrayed her as Marguerite Gautier in \u003ci\u003eLa dame aux Camélias\u003c\/i\u003e.  Apollonie Sabatier, known as La Présidente, put men of letters and  other arts at ease amidst the gracious manners and bawdy talk of her  salon and was immortalized by sculptor August Clésinger and poet Charles  Baudelaire. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo prejudiced eyes, the Russian Jew La Païva  appeared intent on exploiting the rich young men of Paris. Covetous  onlookers resented her ability to amass and display great wealth, most  notably in the design and building of her opulent hotel in the Avenue of  the Champs Elysées. The English beauty who called herself Cora Pearl  was another \"foreign threat\", with her athletic physique, sixty horses  and ability \"to make bored men laugh\", including Prince Napoleon. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVirginia  Rounding disentangles myth from reality in her lively,  thought-provoking study. Nineteenth-century Paris comes to life and so  do its most distinguished and déclassé inhabitants.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781582342603\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40593560076494,"sku":"9781582342603","price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_513c1e43-2ca4-4fcf-91d9-695f4353417d.jpg?v=1637790078","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781582342603","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}