Eugénie et Mathilde, ou mémoires de la famille du Comte de Revel , par l'auteur d'Adèle de Senange

This edition appeared simultaneously with the first edition published in Paris by Shoell. This edition appears less common than the Parisian one, and is found only in English catalogues.
Half caramel calf bindings with corners. Smooth spine with gilt fillets. Black calf title label. 2 upper headcaps slightly worn. Rubbing.
Madame de Souza was one of the most intelligent women under the reign of Louis XVI, during which she held a salon. She was forced to leave France in 1793, soon became a widow (her husband was guillotined), then remarried in 1802. Her novels, imbued with the spirit and manner of the late eighteenth century, enjoyed great success. They are unfortunately little studied today and would merit rehabilitation.
« Dans Eugénie et Mathilde, où elle a peint l'impression des premiers événemens de la révolution sur une famille noble, il est permis de lui attribuer une part du sentiment de Mathilde, qui se dit ennuyée à l'excès de cette révolution, toutes les fois qu'elle n'en est pas désolée. on trouve dans celui d'Eugénie et Mathilde, qui parut seulement en 1811, des reflets non moins frappans de la nature du nord, des rivages de Hollande, des rades de la Baltique, où se prolongeait tristement l'exil de Mme de Flahaut (le premier mariage de Mme de Souza). Eugénie et Mathilde, que nous avons déjà beaucoup cité, est le plus long et le plus soutenu des ouvrages de l'auteur. L'auteur y a représenté au complet l'intérieur d'une famille noble pendant les années de la révolution. Dans Eugénie et Mathilde, Mme de Souza s'est épanchée personnellement plus peut-être que partout ailleurs. » (In Eugénie et Mathilde, where she painted the impression of the first events of the revolution on a noble family, it is permitted to attribute to her a part of Mathilde's sentiment, who says she is excessively bored by this revolution, whenever she is not desolated by it. One finds in that of Eugénie et Mathilde, which appeared only in 1811, no less striking reflections of the nature of the north, of the shores of Holland, of the roadsteads of the Baltic, where the exile of Mme de Flahaut (Mme de Souza's first marriage) was sadly prolonged. Eugénie et Mathilde, which we have already cited extensively, is the longest and most sustained of the author's works. The author has represented there completely the interior of a noble family during the years of the revolution. In Eugénie et Mathilde, Mme de Souza poured herself out personally more perhaps than anywhere else.) (Extracts from Sainte-Beuve, Revue des deux mondes, Vol. 1, 1834).