Book details
The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre / A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Edition
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Stored record
Metadata
- Gutenberg ID
- 28858
- Title
- The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre / A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Edition
- Language
- en
- Book source
- Project Gutenberg
- Description max 80 words
-
A restored authentic edition of Queen Margaret of Navarre's celebrated tales, featuring seventy-three full-page engravings and head-and-tail pieces. This collection offers a faithful translation of the original text, enriched with scholarly essays, biographical notes, and extensive bibliographical summaries.
- Summary up to 500 words
-
The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, stands as a monumental collection of seventy-two tales gathered by seven ladies and four gentlemen at the Château of Meudon. Set against the backdrop of the French court in the 16th century, the narratives delve deeply into themes of love, infidelity, virtue, and vice. The stories range widely in tone and content, depicting the tragic fate of a wife killed by her servant to preserve her chastity, the cunning escape of a boatwoman from predatory friars, and the brutal murder of a lady by a lustful monk. The work is introduced by a preface detailing the complex history of its publication. Early editions, notably those by Pierre Boaistuau and Claude Gruget, were found to be faulty, containing suppressed passages and modified phraseology. The authentic text, restored by M. Le Roux de Lincy, reveals the Queen's original language and reinstates omitted tales, offering a more complete historical and literary document. An essay by George Saintsbury provides critical analysis, while a biography traces Margaret of Angoulême's life from her education under Louise of Savoy to her role as a patron of the Reformation. The volume is enriched by illustrations designed by S. Freudenberg and engraved by eminent French artists, alongside head and tail pieces by Dunker. The text preserves the voices of narrators such as M. de St.-Vincent, offering insights into the social mores and religious tensions of the era. Through these linked tales, the Heptameron serves as both a literary masterpiece and a vital historical record, capturing the complexities of human emotion and the societal shifts of the time.
- LLM editorial rating
- 4.2/5
- Download URL
- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28858.epub.noimages
- Local file path
-
data/epubs/pg28858.epub - Downloaded at
- 2026-07-08 12:31 UTC
People
Authors
- King of Navarre consort of Henry II Queen Marguerite
Classification
Categories
- Classics
- Fiction