Research & Resources for The Enemies of Versailles
Sources had exploded exponentially by the end of the 18th century compared to the early or middle years, so there is a lot of information out there about Jeanne du Barry. A good comprehensive recent biography about her is Joan Haslip's Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty.
Other older biographies include:
Du Barry: A Biography by Stanley Loomis
Mistress of Versailles: The Life of Madame du Barry by Agnes de Stoeckl
Du Barry: An Intimate Biography by Dorothy de Brissac Campbell (I couldn’t find much out about this author but presumably she’s of the same family as Hercule)
Madame du Barry by Edmond du Goncourt
Histoire de Madame du Barry by Charles Vatel – the most comprehensive source I found, and he actually went to primary sources to refute a lot of Goncourt's biography
The Du Barry by Karl Von Schumacher
The Life and Times of Madame du Barry by Robert Douglas
Older, less reliable or more fanciful biographies and memoires include:
Memoires of Madame du Barry at the Court of Louis XV by H. Noel Williams
Anecdotes sur la vie de madame du Barry par Pidanzat de Mairobert
The Du Barry Inheritance by Marion Ward
Du Barry : Enchantress, Memoires of the Favorite of Louis XV by Helen Kendrick
Specifically about Adeliade there is very little written. Mesdames de France: Les Filles de Louis XV by Bruno Cortequisse is only recent work dedicated to the lives of Mesdames, and is excellent and comprehensive, but unfortunately not translated into English. An older source was Memoires Historiques de Mesdames Adelaide et Victoire de France, Filles de Louis XV by Charles Claude de Montigny, again not translated.
Marie Antoinette by Stefan Zweig was a helpful biography of that tragic queen.
Other memoires or biographies of key players include:
Recits d’une tante : Memoires de la Comtesse du Boigne
The Vicissitudes of a Lady-in-Waiting about Francoise de Narbonne by Eugene Welvert
Le Comte du Narbonne by Emile Dard
Souvenirs d’un octogénaire de province par Desire Monnier
Memoires of the Court of Marie Antoinette by Madame de Campan
Those of Richelieu, Choiseul, Mercier, etc already cited in Sisters and Rivals also extended to cover the last book
Social life at the end of 18th century France
Too many to capture completely, but some useful ones particularly for Enemies were:
Sodomites, Tribads and “Crimes Against Nature – The Old Regime Police Blotter II, edited and translated by Jim Chevalier
Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era by Caroline Moorehead
Servants and Masters in Eighteenth Century France by Sarah C. Maza
Old cookbooks informed many of Jeanne’s mother’s recipes, specifically this one with too long a name to write out!
For other comprehensive sources about France in the 18th century, as well as books about XV’s and his court life are listed under the Sisters Resources and Rivals Resources.
I don’t normally read fictional accounts, but hey, it’s Jean Plaidy. Her Madame du Barry is a nice introduction of her life, though necessarily focusing on other things than my books did.
Other older biographies include:
Du Barry: A Biography by Stanley Loomis
Mistress of Versailles: The Life of Madame du Barry by Agnes de Stoeckl
Du Barry: An Intimate Biography by Dorothy de Brissac Campbell (I couldn’t find much out about this author but presumably she’s of the same family as Hercule)
Madame du Barry by Edmond du Goncourt
Histoire de Madame du Barry by Charles Vatel – the most comprehensive source I found, and he actually went to primary sources to refute a lot of Goncourt's biography
The Du Barry by Karl Von Schumacher
The Life and Times of Madame du Barry by Robert Douglas
Older, less reliable or more fanciful biographies and memoires include:
Memoires of Madame du Barry at the Court of Louis XV by H. Noel Williams
Anecdotes sur la vie de madame du Barry par Pidanzat de Mairobert
The Du Barry Inheritance by Marion Ward
Du Barry : Enchantress, Memoires of the Favorite of Louis XV by Helen Kendrick
Specifically about Adeliade there is very little written. Mesdames de France: Les Filles de Louis XV by Bruno Cortequisse is only recent work dedicated to the lives of Mesdames, and is excellent and comprehensive, but unfortunately not translated into English. An older source was Memoires Historiques de Mesdames Adelaide et Victoire de France, Filles de Louis XV by Charles Claude de Montigny, again not translated.
Marie Antoinette by Stefan Zweig was a helpful biography of that tragic queen.
Other memoires or biographies of key players include:
Recits d’une tante : Memoires de la Comtesse du Boigne
The Vicissitudes of a Lady-in-Waiting about Francoise de Narbonne by Eugene Welvert
Le Comte du Narbonne by Emile Dard
Souvenirs d’un octogénaire de province par Desire Monnier
Memoires of the Court of Marie Antoinette by Madame de Campan
Those of Richelieu, Choiseul, Mercier, etc already cited in Sisters and Rivals also extended to cover the last book
Social life at the end of 18th century France
Too many to capture completely, but some useful ones particularly for Enemies were:
Sodomites, Tribads and “Crimes Against Nature – The Old Regime Police Blotter II, edited and translated by Jim Chevalier
Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era by Caroline Moorehead
Servants and Masters in Eighteenth Century France by Sarah C. Maza
Old cookbooks informed many of Jeanne’s mother’s recipes, specifically this one with too long a name to write out!
For other comprehensive sources about France in the 18th century, as well as books about XV’s and his court life are listed under the Sisters Resources and Rivals Resources.
I don’t normally read fictional accounts, but hey, it’s Jean Plaidy. Her Madame du Barry is a nice introduction of her life, though necessarily focusing on other things than my books did.
Click here for Changes & Omissions I made in the novel
