240 pp, 8vo (8 15/16" H), hard cover in dust jacket. B&w photographs, reproductions. "How the Palace of Versailles was built, and how the courts of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI lived in it, is the theme of this book. In itself Versailles is one of the most stupendous artistic creations of all time. Ian Dunlop here describes the requirements of the three royal patrons and their courts and the physical means by which the resulting conceptions were realised: the armies of workmen who wer e employed and the obstacles - not least of them disease - which they had to overcome; the work of the architects, painters, cabinetmakers and decorators; the gardeners and the problems, such as the planting of fully-grown trees and the Marly wat e r w orks for the fountains, with which they had to contend. Artificial and undemocratic the life of the courts may have been, but there is no denying the lasting artistic achievements to which Versailles gave birth in the work, for example, of Ma ns ar t, Le Notre, and Gabriel, of Moliere and Rameau, of Boucher, Watteau and Lancret. The book is very fully illustrated by photographs and by reproductions of paintings and portraits by Hubert Robert, Largilliere, Boucher, Van der Meulen, Droua is, Na tti er and Chatelet; by prints after Rigaud, Blondel, Perelle and Cochin; and by the sculpture of Bernini, Houdon and Le Comte. In its illustrations, as in Mr. Dunlop's text, the book provides what is certainly the best general account of V ersa ille s in English." Light area of browning on bothe sides front free endpaper, very small light foxing mark on verso of half-title page and frontispiece, light wrinkling at top of spine - small bump at bottom of spine. Dust jacket has very l ight edge wear/ wrinkling at top/bottom of spine and flap-folds, light browning on spine and top/bottom edges, a few tiny foxing marks on spine. Very Good/Very Good-

PALACES FRENCH HISTORY CHASSE ROYALE LOUIS XIV FETES CHATEAU