Françoise de Graffigny (1695-1758), French novelist and playwright whose talent was celebrated all over Europe after the publication of her novel Lettres d’une Péruvienne (1747), and her play Cénie (1750), knew many leading figures of the time, including Voltaire. Her 2500 letters offer a unique insight into France’s intellectual, social, political and literary history, as well as the female condition in the eighteenth century. The fifteen-volume print edition (1985-2016) was edited by a team of specialists based at the University of Toronto, led by J. A. Dainard and English Showalter. Volume 16 (Index, Corrections and Additions), in electronic format, will complete the correspondence.
‘One can hardly imagine a more fascinating account of life in the mid-eighteenth century than the letters of Françoise de Graffigny, splendidly edited in the ‘Correspondance’. Her letters, which comment in full and intimate detail on everything from literature and current events to money, love and house furnishings, astonish and delight the modern reader’ (Joan Hinde Stewart, President Emerita, Hamilton College).
The complete Correspondance De Madame De Graffigny can be ordered under this link.