Mémoires sur Madame la Duchesse de St.-Leu, Ex-Reine de Hollande: suivis des romances composées et mises en musique pas elle-même - Beauharnais, Hortense de 1783-1837 (London Colburn and Bentley, 1832)
Hortense de Beauharnias (1783-1837), Queen consort of Holland, was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon and the daughter of Napoléon's first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais
Apart from Hortense's autobiography, this collection contains beautiful, highly theatrical lithographs designed by the author in a neo-gothic style ('style troubadour') illustrating the romances. The collection reflects chivalric values, dealing with knights that depart for the crusades ("Le beau Dunois", "Adieux d'une mère à son fils", "Ne m'oubliez pas !"), courtly love and the lady waiting for her lover in the homeland ("L'Attente", "Sermens d'amour"), the knight having nostalgia ("La sentinelle"; "Regrets d'absence") or melancholy ("Complainte d'Héloise au Paraclet", "La mélancolie"), and the pastoral ("L'Heureuse solitude"; "La plainte inutile").
et ornés d'un portrait et de douze gravures
Keywords: 19th Century (1801-1900); Biography; French Revolution (1789-1799); Cultural history; Romanticism; Song; France