Produced by David Widger THE PROJECT GUTENBERT COURT MEMOIRS By Various CONTENTS: Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois [see also #3841] Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz [see also #3846] Memoirs of Madame de Montespan [see also #3854] Memoirs Louis XIV, by Duch d'Orleans [see also #3859] Memoirs of Louis XIV, by Saint-Simon [see also #3875] Memoirs Louis XV./XVI, by Hausset [see also #3883] Memoirs Marie Antoinette, by Campan [see also #3891] Memoirs of Court of St. Cloud [see also #3899] Memoirs of Count Grammont [see also #5416] MARGUERITE DE NAVARRE MEMOIRS OF MARGUERITE DE VALOIS QUEEN OF NAVARRE Written by Herself Being Historic Memoirs of the Courts of France and Navarre LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Marguerite de Valois--Etching by Mercier Bussi d' Amboise--Painting in the Versailles Gallery Duc de Guise--Painting in the Versailles Gallery Catherine de' Medici--Original Etching by Mercier Henri VI. and La Fosseuse--Painting by A. P. E. Morton A Scene at Henri's Court--Original Photogravure PUBLISHER'S NOTE. The first volume of the Court Memoir Series will, it is confidently anticipated, prove to be of great interest. These Letters first appeared in French, in 1628, just thirteen years after the death of their witty and beautiful authoress, who, whether as the wife for many years of the great Henri of France, or on account of her own charms and accomplishments, has always been the subject of romantic interest. The letters contain many particulars of her life, together with many anecdotes hitherto unknown or forgotten, told with a saucy vivacity which is charming, and an air vividly recalling the sprightly, arch demeanour, and black, sparkling eyes of the fair Queen of Navarre. She died in 1615, aged sixty-three. These letters contain the secret history of the Court of France during the seventeen eventful years 1565-82. The events of the seventeen years referred to are of surpassing interest, including, as they do, the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, the formation of the League, the Peace of Sens, and an account of the religious struggles which agitated that period. They, besides, afford an instructive insight into royal life at the close of the sixteenth century, the modes of travelling then in vogue, the manners and customs of the time, and a picturesque account of the city of Liege and its sovereign bishop. As has been already stated, these Memoirs first appeared in French in 1628. They were, thirty years later, printed in London in English, and were again there translated and published in 1813. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.