Grandes Horizontales: The Lives and Legends of Four Nineteenth-Century Courtesans

by Virginia Rounding

A group biography, the story of four 18th century courtesans.

The lives and legends of four women are examined in this fascinating book, all representatives of the golden age of the French courtesan. In the reign of Emperor Napoleon III the opulent and pampered demi-monde became almost indistinguishable from the haut-monde, with mythical reputations growing up around its most glittering and favoured celebrities. Marie Duplessis became the prototype of the virtuous courtesan when Alexandre Dumas Fils portrayed her in La dame aux Camellas. Apollonie Sabatier put men of letters at ease amidst the bawdy talk of her salon. The Russian Jew La Paiva appeared intent to prey on rich young men of Paris. The English beauty who called herself Cora Pearl was another 'foreign threat', with her athletic physique, sixty horses and ability 'to make bored men laugh'. Virginia Rounding disentangles myth from reality in her lively, thought-provoking study. Nineteenth-century Paris comes to life and so do its most distinguished and declasse inhabitants.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, France, Biography, Sexuality, 19th Century, Biography Memoir

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Virginia Rounding is an author, editor, proofreader and indexer, and a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. Her most recent book is The Burning Time, an investigation of the circumstances, motivations and deaths of the men and women burnt at the stake - and of those who set fire to them - in London in the mid-16th century.

Her previous book was a fresh examination of the lives of the last Emperor and Empress of Russia: Alix and Nicky: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina. A reviewer commented in the Washington Times: ‘she has brought them to life in flesh and blood perhaps better than any previous writer on the subject. This is partly a result of her skill in rooting out and quoting commentary on them by those who knew them well and put their impressions down in letters and diaries. But she has a knack for building on these insights with her own, and so has produced a more rounded portrait than we have ever had before.’

Virginia’s has also written a biography of the Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great: Love, Sex and Power, 2006, described in the Daily Telegraph as ‘a thumping great triumph of a book’). This was preceded by a study of French courtesans (Grandes Horizontales, 2003, in the Independent as ‘impeccably researched, a flirt of a book, enjoyable and sexy’).

Virginia is also the joint author, with Martin Dudley, of a series of books on church administration, and has reviewed widely for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Daily Telegraph, FT Magazine, Independent, Daily Mail and Moscow Times. She currently lives in Birmingham.

She was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at The Courtauld Institute of Art from 2008 to 2011.

She was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School for Girls, Great Crosby, and at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London.

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some informative (& entertaining) anecdotes, but ultimately suffers from too many tangents & dry thesis-style verbiage.

La Dame aux Camelias is one of my very favorite 19th-c novels, so it was nifty to learn about the woman who inspired it. Likewise, La Païva's ruthless drive for security & Cora Pearl's blatantly OTT self-portrayal reveal an interesting exchange: conspicuous consumption in return for the parade of sex & status.

...But these positives encompass perhaps 50% of the whole. The remainder is spent on tangents & associated persons who I really don't care about. Théo Gautier, in particular, turned me off; La Présidente & her cronies reminded me of Percy Shelley & his pals wallowing in their encapsulated sense of superiority & bohemian lifestyle. *eyeroll*

Anyway. The author clearly researched herself into a stupor, which is commendable from an academic POV -- but for the sake of flow & attention spans, a trimming of content was desperately needed.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great read! This beautifully written and carefully researched book takes the reader into the demi-monde of 19th Century Paris with such colour that one is almost there. Virginia Rounding could have written a dry academic book but instead has given us a lively scholarly piece. I read it after Edward Rutherfurd's Paris and it complemented his fictional description of the courtesan, La Belle Helene, beautifully. It was also interesting to reflect on this as I read Medical Muses about another class of women in Paris at the same time.

I loved looking on a map of Paris for all the sites and addresses mentioned with a view to visiting on my next trip.

[Patrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, very well researched, a bit long-winded at times and filled with unecessary details - but the author managed to paint a complete picture... Overall, the book didn't really do anything for me, but I was glad I read it nonetheless.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. I particularly appreciate that the author took the time to elaborate on the historical context of these four women's lives. I had read a few of the primary sources--memoirs mostly--which gave me a bit of background but I really loved all the political details in here.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the read: Interesting. Haven't really made a decision on whether I like it or not but have been reading it almost non-stop and am half-way through if that's in indicator.
Finished: It does read like someone's doctorate thesis, which is different from what the front and back cover describe. But, interesting enough to read; didn't know where to focus.

[Elizabeth Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as research for my novel, My Phantom: The Memoir of Christine Daaé. I read this for the history of a particular time. Great for details but, in the end, these courtesans bored me because I was turned off by their focus on money and their means of obtaining it.

[Penny]

Great book. A slice of French history easily digested. Culture of the times, historical characters. If you're a fan of 19th C French poetry and arts, it's a good read.

[Cocobean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational biographies of four of the most fascinating and daring women of 19th century Paris.

[Amanda Edmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great information, writing was a bit drug on. Hard to get into.. would use it more of a reference piece than for entertainment purposes.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting esp for someone interested in Second Empire period of Paris.

[Viv Eliot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a well written book but it was full of very useful information.

[Willy Marz Thiessam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without a doubt Virginia Rounding in this early book has created a lovely pastiche of a world gone but whose influence is with us today. The idea of celebrity, fashion and feminine sexuality is something that seems to have had the ultimate definition at this time in France in the Second Empire of Napoleon III. Round takes four women who were famous courtesans and shows their rise to fame, showing along the way the tragedies and weaknesses. Its a beautiful book and one can see how her subsequent writing has in many ways owed its beginning to her work here. In particular we can see Rounding's descriptive style and elegant way of observing the interplay of the large events to those of the intimate world of her subjects. I can not praise this book enough for sheer enjoyment.

Admittedly it may not measure up to her recent works but despite defects it is well worth the read. The surprise for me was the minimal amount of references compared to her later work. As an archivist/historian I picked up the book to see her incredible researching skills that she shows in her later books. Despite this however Grandes Horizontales is something to be recommended.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was informative not just on the lives of the courtesans, but also the historical context for their environment, choices, and success in 19th century France. However, while the author is clearly informative on the lives of various figures in the Second Empire, she provides so much detail and information that it sometimes felt like the courtesans were the context for talking about the men. For example in the chapter introducing Cora Pearl, nearly half the chapter talked about her lover de Morney. He was an interesting person, but I was hoping to read more of Cora.

I did like seeing how views on sex and courtesans were different and how they were similar to views today and how we talk about sex workers. This would be a good book to talk about how views on sex workers and sex are in many ways still the same as they are now.

[Madame Histoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

overall I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the 4 women very interesting. I already knew well Marie Duplessis from Dumas Fils' novel and my obsession for La Traviata, and I had recently visited La Païva's magnificent hotel in Paris (highly recommended!) but I knew nothing about Cora Pearl and Appoline Sabatier « la Présidente ».
I was disappointed to discover the behaviours of some of the writers I had admired at school and in my literature classes who frequented those women - I knew that they frequented prostitutes as it was the norm at the time but reading some of their letters, as opposed to their art, take away some of their allure and reminded them to me as 'urgh, just men'.
The book is too long in it's unnecessary details at times but overall well written and researched.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable biographical history of four women who became high-status courtesans in 19th-century Paris. Draws extensively on contemporary accounts, including archival material, with a suitably critical eye. I would've preferred more discussion of the issues of agency and power that the conclusion deals with so deftly, and perhaps a little less detail on the fabrics and furnishings (even though the material culture is being used to make key points), but that's just my taste.

[Roger Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, compelling book about late nineteenth century courtesans in Paris, focussing on the lives of these women and the way that history (mostly written by men) has retrospectively viewed them. Some incredible insights, and lots of historical detail which is written with a light, entertaining touch. I was surprised to discover that one of these notable courtesans was actually British (Cora Pearl), and her story in particular is intriguing. Ver highly recommended!

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating topic and characters, well researched. A lot of interesting material buried among historical “fillers” that the author used in order to have enough material for a book. Final result–
The offspring of a gossip column and a PhD thesis.

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and surreal. Also, sometimes so disturbing in the misogyny and hypocrisy from real texts at that time and you have to realize that these women really had had to deal with it and LIVE in that.

[Savvy Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you do not know much about professional courtesans in the 1800's I would recommend it as it is quite informative. It is, in my opinion, somewhat dry. Definitely a better read than a high school history book though!

[Alexia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giving a score to this one was slightly harder than normal. Personally - this book isn't for me, however that doesn't make it a bad book or badly written.

This book is written towards a very specific audience. If you are interested in 19th century France, about the courtesans of the time and their exploits you will love this book. The impression one gets when reading this is that this was written almost as someone's PhD disseration. The language is quite formal and lots of facts and details are given.

The amount of detail can be overwhelming. I don't know Paris that well (meaning at all) so knowing the address of each house, and where is was, along will all the supposedly well known men that they women entertained went completely over my head.

Nonetheless, if you are very interested in the era etc you might enjoy this. Don't expect any story - it seems to be meant for reference more than anything else.

[William Fregosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading this in conjunction with two other books as research for a talk I'm to give on Verdi's La Traviata. Of the twelve women profiled in The Courtesans by Joanna Richardson, four are examined in much more detail in this book, including the iconic Marie Duplessis, the famed "Lady of the Camellias." Like the Richardson, this is valuable social history and includes not only photos of the women themselves, but of their lavish houses, the wealthy and/or powerful men with whom they consorted, and the paintings and sculpture for which they posed, analysis of the literary works they inspired, including poetry, novels, plays, and at least one world-famous opera.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others say, this is a very well written and researched book. While I am very interested in this time period, I was not that taken with the personalities and lives of the four courtesans focussed on. The introductory chapter in the book, which provided a brief overview of prostitution in France and England in the 19th century was enlightening and well done. Overall, an interesting social history.

[Cleolinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suffers a little next to Katie Hickman's "Courtesans"; there's a little overlap, particularly with Cora Pearl and La Paiva, but Rounding sticks more to courtesans in Paris (one of them English), while Hickman focuses on English courtesans (some in Paris). Rounding directly quotes more frequently, and yet somehow gives less information than Hickman does, I don't know. Still worth the read.

[Corinne Tr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and catchy. Writer definitely made a wide research. Doesn't judge the women she tries to describe, she shows their reasons but also their alternatives to their chosen life. She tries to put a line between reality and the myth

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Too scholarly, no fun. Gave up 1/4 way in.

[Helen]

'Grandes Horizontales' studies in some depth the lives (and legends, as the subtitle of the book suggests) of four notable courtesans. She supplies more in the way of historical background detail than Joanna Richardson, including information about the Parisian system of prostitute regulation and the very significant point (back to Clarissa) that women's options were very limited. Life for women from the working class (which the four courtesans were) was, in addition, often short and brutal.

Although the best-known courtesans did well for themselves in material terms, theirs was a precarious existence. Should their main 'protector' withdraw his financial support, the courtesan was left with no alternative but to find a substitute - easy enough for a woman at the height of her youth and beauty, but a much more difficult matter as her beauty began to fade and other, younger women came onto the scene. It is also worth remembering that, however wealthy a courtesan became, however well-connected and aristocratic her lovers, she could never rise from the demi-monde to the haut-monde. As a woman - no matter what she did during her life - her sexuality defined her and precluded her from 'polite society', just as Clarissa Harlowe - once 'fallen' - can never be accepted by her family - not, at any rate, until she manages to starve herself to death.

[May 2008]