When you lay bricks for eight years, you may end up with a house. Or a monument. Two weeks ago, when I decided to make my Victorian Paris blog posts into an e-book, I had no idea that I would end up with over four hundred pages of text and pictures. Yet here it is, and it is for sale at Amazon at a very reasonable price. Even though the blog is a labor of love, I wouldn’t mind getting recompense for feeding it and keeping it alive. Hence this book. There is still plenty to come in the next eight years and I hope that you’ll stay with me for the ride.
Book description:
The Victorian Paris blog has informed and entertained readers since 2011. The illustrated posts collected in the book deal with every aspect of life in the French capital during the rise and fall of the Second Empire as well as the Belle Époque. Meet the movers and the shakers, discover the dark alleys of Paris where sin lured and gangs ruled, learn about the food (not always good). Follow the ordinary Parisian bourgeois in his daily routine and meet colorful Bohemian characters. Read what the wide-eyed British and American tourists thought of the city and its special inhabitants: the romantic grisettes, the predatory gigolettes, the formidable Apaches, and other Parisian fauna. Americans began to visit Paris in the mid-century, when sea-travel became more comfortable and, after absorbing the inevitable culture shock, many fell in love with the city. They’ll tell you about it in this book.
E-book edition, 438 pages, 7.50 US Buy here
Table of Contents:
THE GUIDE TO GAY PAREE
(A Guide for the English and American Traveller in 1869 or How to see PARIS for 5 guineas)
How to get there
Arrival in Paris
Find a hotel
Restaurants and Cafés
Shopping
Entertainment
Sightseeing
Beware!
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
Mark Twain o Napoleon III
The English Courtesan Who Made a French Emperor
Eugenie, the Tragic Empress
Loulou and the Zulus: The Life and Death of Napoleon IV
The Prince of Wales in Paris: “Please Adopt Me!”
What Mark Twain Got Wrong
The Bloodbath of the Paris Commune
The Truth About La Marseillaise
How Germany Was Born in France
Paris of the 1870’s: Rising from the Ashes
THE PEOPLE OF PARIS
The Upper Class
The Middle Class
The Working Class
La Grisette
The Sad story of Two Grisettes
The Noon Girl: La Midinette
The Parisian Clochard: Misery Made Romantic
From Washerwoman to a Queen of Paris
LIFESTYLE AND MANNERS
Parisian Lifestyle: Sensual Ease and Contentment
French-Watching in 1850: Feeding Time at a Popular Restaurant
Old When Young and Young When Old
The Pilgrims and the Sinners: Sunday in Paris
Bois de Boulogne: The Rendezvous of Wealth and Opulence
Polite Parisians: Really?
The Love of Dogs
Mending Their Manners
Quiet Demoiselles and Proud Servants
Clever and Bizarre Local Items
The Last Duel in Paris
FAMILY MATTERS
The French Family Ties
The Marriage Market
Without a Dowry: The Business of Marriage
The Dead of Paris
HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS
Parisians at Home and the Secrets d’Alcôve
Living Vertically: Parisian Housing in 1850
Feared and Despised: The Parisian Concierge
Jacques Takes a Bath
The Belle Epoque Lifestyle: Personal Hygiene
Paris in Winter: Not to be Desired
The Worst Season in Paris
PARIS DOWNSTAIRS: THE SERVANTS
La Soubrette
The Wet-Nurse
La Femme de Ménage
The Upper Servants
FOOD AND DRINK
La Cuisine and the Liver Crisis
Food and Drink Orgy: Le Club des Grands Estomachs
Food: Not so Good
The Scarcity of Water
French Bread, French Teeth
Extreme Food Recycling
The French Art of Drinking Without Getting Drunk
The Belle Époque Catering Extravaganza
PUBLIC WORKS AND SERVICES
The Government of Paris: A Success Story
The Government of Paris Will Sell Your Crinoline
Parisian Foundlings
Poor and Helpless in 19th Century Paris
Paris Morgue in Emile Zola’s Words
Paris Mail: Look for the Blue Light
Crinolines and Imperials: The Public Transport
The French Art of Peeing Without Getting Wet Feet
The Eiffel Tower Story
CRIME AND JUSTICE
The Gangs of Paris: Les Apaches
1890s Terror in Paris
Order in the Street
The Policeman’s Work is Never Done
Slumming It in Paris
Saint-Lazare: Women in Prison
Murder Most Horrible: The Bloody Trunk Case
PROSTITUTION
The Opera of Paris: We Procure Our Ballerinas to Wealthy Men
The Fortifications Whore
La Gigolette
The Impostor
The Jolie Madame
The Clandestine
The Belle Époque Hooters
Degrees of Prostitution
FASHION
A Short Guide to the Ups and Downs of 19th Century Fashion
The Fashion Empire of Charles Worth
About Corsets
The Hoop Crinoline: Living in a Cage
The Hoop Crinoline: Dying for Fashion
Sports Events and Men’s Fashion
ART AND LITERATURE
Jean Béraud: The Most Parisian of the Paris Painters
The Art of Crafty: The Spectacle of Paris Streets
James Tissot and the Women of Paris
Paris Markets in Victor Gilbert’s Paintings
The Goncourts: Gossip Inc.
Disdéri’s Photo Studio: Kings, Queens, and Pretty Legs
La Castiglione: The Too Much Countess
ENTERTAINMENT
The Inescapable Sarah Bernhardt
Louise and Jeanne: The Antipodes of Moulin Rouge
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Iva, I am delighted to see this. If you send me a cover (I will email you separately) I will get it up on HFAC!
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