Life, letters, and Epicurean philosophy of Ninon de L'Enclos, the celebrated beauty of the seventeenth century

The volume traces the life and thought of a seventeenth-century Parisian salon hostess, following her youth, social ascendancy, friendships, lovers, financial vicissitudes, and a notable old age, while recounting episodes of scandal and consolation. Interwoven are epistolary reflections addressed to a marquis that distill an Epicurean outlook on love, vanity, friendship, absence, and freedom through concise maxims and meditations. Combining chronological biography, lively anecdote, and personal letters, the work presents a social portrait and a practical philosophy of pleasure and conduct for readers interested in intimacy, wit, and the moral codes of elite urban society.