{"product_id":"regency-england-undressed-harriette-wilson-the-greatest-courtesan-of-her-age-paperback","title":"Regency England Undressed: Harriette Wilson, the Greatest Courtesan of her Age - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLesley Blanch\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eANDREW ROBERTS: \"A superb evocation of the glorious highs and scandalous lows of Regency England\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLesley Blanch's novella-length introduction to the \u003ci\u003eMemoirs \u003c\/i\u003eof Harriette Wilson, the reigning courtesan of Regency London, was first published in 1955 in New York, where she was then living with her diplomat-novelist husband, Romain Gary. \u003ci\u003eThe Wilder Shores of Love\u003c\/i\u003e, for which Blanch is chiefly remembered, had been published to acclaim the previous year. Harriette Wilson lived among and was an integral part of a wealthy society where privilege, arrogance and leisure flourished. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe greatest courtesan of her age, her patrons included many of the distinguished men of her day, from the Duke of Wellington to Lord Byron. Her weapons of allure were beauty, style and wit. She held court in a box at the opera and competed with her courtesan sisters for status and prestige. The motive for writing the \u003ci\u003eMemoirs\u003c\/i\u003e, published in 1825, was blackmail, or \"a desperate effort to live by my wits,\" as Wilson put it. She was in her thirties, her looks were fading away as were her admirers, and the annuity she had been promised by the Duke of Beaufort in exchange for leaving alone his heir, the Marquis of Worcester, had been cut off. Wilson offered to edit out of her \u003ci\u003eMemoirs\u003c\/i\u003e any lovers who paid 200 pounds, thereby holding the British aristocracy to ransom. Certain men who bought her silence were excluded, while others who paid highly were hugely flattered. Those who were brave enough to stand up to her were ridiculed and shamed - most famously the Duke of Wellington: \"Publish and be damned!\" he cried. She did and she was. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eRegency England Undressed: Harriette Wilson, the Greatest Courtesan of her Age\u003c\/i\u003e also offers intimately detailed portraits of eccentrics, individualists and the demi-monde. Blanch's Biographical Notes in the Appendix read like a raffish Who's Who of Regency England, and Europe too. She brings the distant past to life so it reads like a novel; precise in its curious detail and bold in its historical panache. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNEW YORKER: \"An enriching introductory biographical essay . . . a valuable corrective to some of the recent attempts to present English Regency society as all elegance, common sense and rationality about sex\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMAUREEN CLEAVE, DAILY TELEGRAPH - \"A scholarly romantic in a school of her own, the depth of Lesley Blanch's research is such that other writers plunder her books shamelessly.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLESLEY BLANCH \"Today, in America, the courtesan may be said to have been replaced by the psychoanalyst. In place of the alcove there is the analyst's office. But basically the functions of both courtesan and analyst have the same principle. Both offer escape, relaxation and individual attention; both are expensive. And the couch is still there.\"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eLesley Blanch, (1904-2007), a Londoner by birth, spent the greater part of her life travelling about those remote areas her books record so vividly. She was an astute observer of places and people - their quirks, habits and passions. A distinguished writer, artist, drama critic and features editor of British Vogue during World War II, she influenced and inspired generations of writers, readers and critics. She as the author of twelve books, including: The Wilder Shores of Love, Journey into the Mind's Eye, The Sabres of Paradise, Pierre Loti and a novel dedicated to her friend Nancy Mitford, The Nine Tiger Man. Her posthumous memoirs On the Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life are published by Virago. www.lesleyblanch.com www.bookblast.com\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 134\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.29 x 7.81 x 5.06 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 09, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47484109979901,"sku":"9780993355226","price":16.43,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/emM5NzNMT1VVWXNia3d6cGRvdEFpQT09.webp?v=1777672430","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/regency-england-undressed-harriette-wilson-the-greatest-courtesan-of-her-age-paperback","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}