| Panorama
of Paris offers English-language readers an introduction to one
of the forgotten masterpieces of French literature, Louis-Sébastien
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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