Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. On page 153, "corrival" should possibly be "co-rival". On page 201, "Que ne fut rien" should possibly be "Qui ne fut rien" On page 269, the phrase "with a strange, most ponderous, yet delicate expression in the big, dull-glowing black eyes and it" possibly contains a typo. THE STONES OF PARIS IN HISTORY AND LETTERS [Illustration: Molière] THE STONES OF PARIS IN HISTORY AND LETTERS BY BENJAMIN ELLIS MARTIN AND CHARLOTTE M. MARTIN IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I _ILLUSTRATED_ NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS MDCCCXCIX COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS TROW DIRECTORY PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY NEW YORK TO W. C. BROWNELL IN CORDIAL TRIBUTE TO HIS "FRENCH TRAITS" CONTENTS PAGE Three Time-worn Staircases 11 The Scholars' Quarter of the Middle Ages 73 Molière and his Friends 103 From Voltaire to Beaumarchais 191 The Paris of the Revolution 221 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _From drawings by John Fulleylove, Esq. The portraits from photographs by Messrs. Braun, Clément et Cie._ Molière (from the portrait by Mignard in the Musée Condé, at Chantilly) Frontispiece PAGE The so-called Hôtel de la Reine Blanche (from a photograph of the Commission du Vieux Paris) facing 28 Balcony of the Hôtel de Lauzun-Pimodan, on Île Saint-Louis 47 "Jean-sans-Peur," Duc de Bourgogne (from a painting by an unknown artist, at Chantilly) facing 56 The Tower of "Jean-sans-Peur" 70 The Church of Saint-Séverin facing 74 Rue Hautefeuille, a Survivor of the Scholars' Quarter 81 The Interior of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre facing 82 Pierre de Ronsard (from a drawing by an unknown artist, in a private collection) facing 88 Balcony over the Entrance of the Cour du Dragon 92 Clément Marot (from the portrait by Porbus le Jeune, in a private collection) facing 94 René Descartes (from the portrait by Franz Hals, in the Musée du Louvre) facing 100 The Stage Door of Molière's Second Theatre in Paris 114