16 h 41 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 16 h 41 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Behind Versailles’ grandeur, a maid watches power depend on private talk, daily habits and the fear of losing favour.
Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI brings together Madame du Hausset’s account and memoirs bearing the name of the Princesse de Lamballe. As Madame de Pompadour’s personal attendant, du Hausset sees the private rooms where Louis XV and his favourite meet, talk and quarrel. Her view brings court life close, beyond its public grandeur.
The second set moves to Louis XVI’s court and Marie Antoinette’s friendship with the Princesse de Lamballe. Scholars doubt Lamballe’s authorship and generally treat these memoirs as another writer’s work. Read together, the accounts offer gossip, fear and favour: intimate details to weigh with care, rather than a settled record of a monarchy facing trouble.
What you’ll discover
- A maid’s close view Enter private rooms through du Hausset’s observations of conversations, quarrels and the habits of court life.
- The work behind favour See how Pompadour keeps her standing by remaining useful and present after romance fades.
- A king in private Meet a quiet, guarded Louis XV who values routine, small talk and trusted company.
- Beside the young queen Explore the Lamballe memoirs’ view of Marie Antoinette’s court, while keeping their disputed authorship in mind.
- Gossip worth weighing Discover details official records leave out, while learning to question what intimate accounts can establish.
Who will love it
Readers who love palace gossip, royal portraits, and true accounts of favourites, ministers and plots will enjoy this book. It also suits those drawn to Versailles and the Revolution.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A quiet servant hears the secrets
- Royal splendour hides fear and secrecy
- Pompadour must keep defending her place
- Favour matters more than a plan
- An attack puts friendship on trial
- The Austrian bride meets early hostility
- The Queen’s friendships become public weapons
- Surveillance reaches the royal household
- Two voices reveal power through intimacy
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Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete
by Madame du Hausset; Princesse de Lamballe
A maid hides in a Versailles alcove and hears a king and his mistress talk, treating her like a cat.
Challenging5–10 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What would you hear if you sat quietly in a corner while a king and his mistress talked? Madame du Hausset found out.
Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete at a glance
- Reading time
- About 9 h 40 min7 h 40 min fast, 11 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 137,700 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A waiting woman hears the court's secrets
Madame du Hausset serves as a waiting woman to Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV. She jots down notes after striking events, then shapes them into an account for an old friend. She writes without order, so the result feels like talk overheard.
Her post gives her a rare seat. She sits in a small alcove beside the favourite's room and hears nearly everything. Pompadour explains that she and the King feel so secure around du Hausset that her presence scarcely matters, much like a household pet.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 10 h 50 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Du Hausset, Nicole, and Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan de Lamballe. Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/memoirs-of-the-courts-of-louis-xv-and-xvi-complete.
Du Hausset, N., & Lamballe, M.-T.-L. de S. (2026). Memoirs of the courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/memoirs-of-the-courts-of-louis-xv-and-xvi-complete
Du Hausset, Nicole, and Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan de Lamballe. Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/memoirs-of-the-courts-of-louis-xv-and-xvi-complete.
@book{duhausset2026memoirs,
author = {Du Hausset, Nicole and Lamballe, Marie-Thérèse-Louise de Savoie-Carignan},
title = {Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI — Complete},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/memoirs-of-the-courts-of-louis-xv-and-xvi-complete}
}
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What is Memoirs of the Courts of Louis XV and XVI about?
It joins two works. Madame du Hausset records life beside Madame de Pompadour at the court of Louis XV. The second, a secret history of Louis XVI, follows Marie Antoinette and the Princesse de Lamballe through the years before and during the Revolution.
Who was Madame du Hausset?
She was a waiting woman to Madame de Pompadour, the favourite of Louis XV. She sat close to the King and his mistress, heard many private talks, and wrote them down the same day, so her memoir reads like a diary of the court.
Who was the Princesse de Lamballe?
She was an Italian princess, widowed young in France, who became the Queen's friend and superintendent of her household. The second memoir presents her journal and her words, gathered and edited by an English woman who says she served her.
The author
Madame du Hausset
1713–1801 · French memoirist
Madame du Hausset (1713–1801) was a French memoirist. She lived in France and worked as a lady’s maid to Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV. She wrote memoirs about her experience at the French court in the eighteenth century. Her memoirs were published after her death.
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