Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues

by SusanGriffin (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $3.25

  This is the story of courtesans, or kept women, the highest and most educated form of prostitutes, who from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth century wielded more power and influence over European culture and society than any other group of women.Dramatic, ribald and often moving, Susan Griffin's book provides a missing link in the lineage of lives and events that led to greater female emancipation in the modern world. Though they were plying a trade, courtesans enjoyed a far greater range of freedom, not simply sexual, than most women during those centuries. They chose their loves, men and women, and most of them also chose their benefactors; they were queens of the demi-monde, often living lives of great luxury. Susan Griffin will present the history of the courtesans as fascinating for its own sake, full of outrageous incidents and witty remarks, sparkling social events, dazzlingly fashionable clothing, decoration, extravagant lifestyles, celebrated players, stunningly beautiful, seductive women and men, illicit romance, intrigue and gossip.

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $3.81

  An unprecedented, provocative look at the extraordinary world of the great courtesans, from Veronica Franco, who graced the palazzi of sixteenth-century Venice, and Madame de Pompadour, the arbiter of all things fashionable at Versailles, to La Belle Otero of the Grand Boulevards of fin-de-siecle Paris, who frequently sported jewel-encrusted garters, and Marion Davies who took Hollywood by storm. The Book of the Courtesans enticingly illustrates the intricacies of their lavish lifestyles and their incredible life stories and further reveals how these cunning women seized the opportunity to become the West's first female liberators, free to choose their own lovers and command remarkable respect.

  'A manifesto for flirtation. After all, the qualities that the courtesans exploited to achieve influence and riches are still those that are most likely to ensnare a man today. I intend to give a copy to all my singleton friends' Rowan Pelling, Mail on Sunday

  'A eulogy to femininity, an essay on what sets certain women apart. Surrender to it: The Book of the Courtesans is as seductive as the women it describes' Lucy Moore, Sunday Times