,,the ,,sunshade    ,,the ,,glove--,,the
 ,,muff           ,,the ,,sunshade      
,,the ,,glove--,,the ,,muff     ,,by    
,,octave ,,uzanne     _/,,illustrated   
,,by ,,paul ,,avril_/     ,,london   ,j4
 ,c4 ,,nimmo ,,and ,,bain   #ad1 ,,king 
,,william ,,street1 ,,strand1 ,w4,c4    
#ahhc          ,,preface      ,after    
_/the brilliant success which attended1 
in the spring of last  year1 our volume 
on_/ ,the ,fan--_/a success which was   
the result1 as  ,i cannot conceal from  
myself1 much more of the original       
conception  and decorative execution of 
that work of luxe than of its literary  
interest--,i have determined to close   
this series of_/ ,woman's  ,ornaments   
_/by a last little work on the          
protective adornments of  that delicate 
being1 as graceful as she is gracious_/3
 ,the ,sunshade1  the ,glove1 the ,muff4
 _/,this collection1 therefore1 of      
feminine toys  will be limited to two   
volumes1 a collection which at first    
sight  appeared to us so complex and    

heavy that a dozen volumes at least     
would have been required to contain its 
principal elements4 ,this1  doubtless1  
on the one hand1 would have tried our   
own constancy1 and  on the other1 would 
have failed in fixing more surely the   
inconstancy  of our female readers4 ,the
 spirit has its freaks of independence1 
and  the unforeseen of life ought to be 
carefully economised4 ,moreover1  to    
tell the whole truth1 the decorative    
elegance of a book like  the present    
hides very often beneath its prints the 
torture of an  intellectual thumbscrew4 
,the unhappy author is obliged to       
confine his  exuberant ideas in a sort  
of strait-jacket in order to slip them  
more  easily through the varied         
combinations of pictorial design1 which 
here rules1 an inexorable ,mentor1 over 
the text4_/    _/,in a work printed in  
this manner1 just as in a theatre1 the_/
 mise  en scne _/is often detrimental to
 the piece2 the one murders the         
other--it cannot be otherwise--the      

public applauds1 but the writer  who has
 the worship of his art sorrowfully     
resigns himself1 and  inwardly protests 
against the condescension of which he   
has had  experience_/4    _/,two        
volumes1 then1 under a form which thus  
imprisons the strolling1  sauntering1   
inventive1 and paradoxical spirit1 will 
be sufficient for  my lady readers4     
,very soon we shall meet again in books 
with vaster  horizons1 and ceilings not 
so low1 to employ an expression which   
well describes the moral imprisonment in
 which ,i am enveloped by the  graces   
and exquisite talent of my              
collaborateur1 ,paul ,avril_/4    _/,let
 it be understood1 then1 that ,i have no
 personal literary  pretensions in this 
work4 ,as the sage ,montaigne says in   
his_/ ,essays1  _/,i have here but      
collected a heap of foreign flowers1 and
 brought of  my own only the string     
which binds them together4_/            
_/,,octave ,,uzanne4_/          ,,the   
,,sunshade    _/,,the ,,parasol ----    

,,the ,,umbrella_/      ,the author of a
 _/,dictionary of ,inventions_/1 after  
having proved the  use of the ,parasol  
in ,france about #afhj1 openly gives up 
any attempt  to determine its precise   
original conception1 which indeed seems 
to  be completely concealed in the night
 of time4    ,it would evidently be     
childish to attempt to assign a date to 
the  invention of ,parasols2 it would be
 better to go back to ,genesis at  once4
 ,a biblical expression1 _/the shelter  
which defends from the  sun_/1 would    
almost suffice to demonstrate the       
,oriental origin of  the ,parasol1 if it
 did not appear everywhere in the most  
remote  antiquity--as well in the       
,nineveh sculptures1 discovered and     
described by ,m4 ,layard2 as on the     
bas-reliefs of the palaces or  frescoes 
of the tombs of ,thebes and ,memphis4   
,in ,china they used the ,parasol more  
than two thousand years before  ,christ4
 ,there is mention of it in the         
_/,thong-sou-wen_/1 under the           

denomination of _/,san-,ka_/1 in the    
time of the first dynasties1 and a      
,chinese legend attributes the invention
 of it to the wife of ,lou-pan1  a      
celebrated carpenter of antiquity4 ,sir1
 said this incomparable  spouse to her  
husband1 you make with extreme          
cleverness houses for  men1 but it is   
impossible to make them move1 whilst the
 object which  ,i am framing for their  
private use can be carried to any       
distance1  beyond even a thousand       
leagues4    ,and ,lou-pan1 stupefied by 
his wife's genius1 then saw the         
unfolding  of the first ,parasol4       
,interesting as these legends may be1   
handed down by tradition to the  peoples
 of the ,east1 they have no more        
historical credit than our  delicate    
fables of mythology3 they preserve in   
themselves less of  the poetic          
quintessence1 and above all seem less   
connected with that  mysterious charm   
with which ,greek paganism drowned that 
charming  ,olympus wherefrom the very   

origins of art appear to descend4       
,let the three ,graces be represented   
burned by ,apollo1 tired of  flying     
through the shadows1 where ,fauns and   
gipans lie in ambush1  or let these     
three fair ones be painted in despair at
 the fiery  sensation of sunburning     
which brands their epidermis2 let them  
invoke  ,venus1 and let the ,loves      
appear immediately1 bearers of unknown  
instruments1 busily occupied in working 
the little hidden springs1  ingeniously 
showing their different uses and        
salutary effects2 let  a poet--a        
,voltaire1 a ,dorat1 a ,meunier de      
,querlon1 or an ,imbert  of the time--be
 kind enough to forge some rhymes of    
gold on this  fable2 let him1 in fine1  
inspired by these goddesses1 compose an 
incontestable master-piece1 and behold  
_/the ,origin of the ,sunshade_/6       
graven in pretty legendary letters on   
the temple of ,memory1 not to be        
contradicted by any spectacled          
_/savant_/ in the world4    ,but if no  

poet1 in smart affected style1 has told 
us in rhyme _/the  ,story of the        
,parasol_/1 many poets of all times have
 recalled the use  of it in precious    
verses1 which appear to serve as        
landmarks for  history1 and as          
references to discoveries of archology4 
,in ancient  ,greece1 in the time of the
 festivals of ,bacchus1 it was the      
custom1  not then confounded with       
fashion1 to carry a ,sunshade1 not so   
much  to extenuate the ardour of the    
sun1 but as a sort of religious         
ceremonial4 ,paciaudi1 in his treatise  
_/,de ,umbell ,gestatione_/1  shows us  
on the carriage on which the statue of  
,bacchus is placed a  youth seated1 the 
bearer of a ,sunshade1 a sign of divine 
majesty4  ,pausanias1 in his            
_/,arcadics_/1 mentions the ,sunshade in
 describing the  festivals of ,alea in  
,argolis1 whilst later on1 in the       
_/,eleutheria_/1  we see the ,parasol   
also4 ,lastly1 after having painted for 
us1 in a  marvellous description of     

,alexandria on a holiday1 the           
hierophants1  bearers of emblems and the
 mystic vase1 the ,monads covered with  
ivy1  the ,bassarids with scattered hair
 wielding their thyrsus1 ,athenus       
suddenly shows us the magnificent       
chariot of ,bacchus1 where the  statue  
of the god1 six cubits high1 all in     
gold1 with a purple robe  falling to his
 heels1 had over his head a ,sunshade   
ornamented with  gold4 ,bacchus alone1  
of all the gods1 had the privilege of   
the  ,sunshade1 if we rely on the       
evidence of ancient monuments1 earthen  
vases1 and graven stones drawn from the 
museums of ,stosch and other            
archologists4    ,as a result of their  
frequent relations with the ,greeks     
after the  death of ,alexander the      
,great1 the ,jews appear to have        
borrowed from  the ,gentiles1 in the    
celebration of their ,feast of          
,tabernacles1  the use of the ,sunshade4
 ,the subjoined medal of ,agrippa the   
,old1  struck by the ,hellenised ,jews1 

in some sort supports this1 although    
,spanheim1 in a passage relating to this
 medal1 says he has hesitated  a long   
while as to the signification of the    
symbols which it  represents4 ,do the   
ears of corn mark the fertility of the  
governed  provinces1 or do they refer to
 the ,feast of ,tabernacles8 ,as for    
the tent on the obverse1 it is little   
probable that it represents  a          
tabernacle according to ,moses' rite1   
since the roofs of these  tabernacles1  
far from being pointed1 were flat and   
cloven in the  midst1 so as to allow    
rain1 sun1 and starlight to pass        
through4 ,it  must then be the          
,sunshade1 the emblem of royalty2 this  
at least seems  probable4    ,the       
,parasol played among the ,greeks a very
 important part1 as well in  the sacred 
and funeral ceremonies as in the great  
holidays of nature1  and even in the    
private life of the noble ladies of     
,athens4    ,the ,parasol in its elegant
 form may be seen drawn on the majority 

of  ,greek vases1 either painted with   
straight or arched branches1 concave  or
 convex1 or in the shape of a hemisphere
 or a tortoise's back4 ,but  the        
,sunshade with movable rods1 opening or 
shutting1 existed at that  time1 as is  
sufficiently indicated by the phrase of 
,aristophanes in  the _/,knights_/ 7,act
 v4 ,scene #b7--;,his ears opened and   
shut something  like a sunshade4    ,an 
archologist might amuse himself with    
writing a special work on  the rle of   
the ,sunshade in ,greece2 documents     
would not fail him2  nay1 the book would
 soon grow big1 and might bristle with  
notes from  all quarters1 abounding in  
the margins1 after the example of those 
good solid volumes of the sixteenth     
century1 which none but a hermit  would 
have the leisure to read conscientiously
 to-day4 ,such is not  our business in  
this light chapter4    ,one cannot      
exactly say for what motive the         
,sunshade was carried  by young virgins 
in all the processions in the           

,thesmophoria1 the  festivals of        
,eleusis1 and the ,panathena4           
,aristophanes calls the  baskets and the
 white ,sunshades symbolic instruments1 
destined to  recall to human beings the 
acts of ,ceres and ,proserpine4         
,perhaps it is not necessary to search  
beyond this ,aristophanic  definition1  
which may on the whole entirely satisfy 
us4 ,moreover1  these ,sunshades were   
white1 not1 say they1 because the statue
 erected  by ,theseus to ,minerva was of
 that colour1 but because white marked  
the liveliest joy and pomp according to 
,ovid1 who recommends very  carefully in
 his _/,fasti_/ the wearing in sign of  
rejoicings white  tunics worthy of      
pleasing ,ceres1 in whose cult both the 
priestesses  and the things they used   
ought to be entirely white4    ,in a    
man1 according to ,anacreon1 the        
carrying a ,parasol was the mark  of a  
libertine and effeminate life2 one might
 draw an analogous  conclusion from a   
scene in the _/,birds_/ of              

,aristophanes1 in which  ,prometheus1   
through fear of ,jupiter1 cries to his  
slave1 before  abandoning himself to a  
sweet passion for ,venus only1 ,quick1  
take  this sunshade1 and hold it over   
me1 in order that the gods may not  see 
me4    ,it is also doubtless for the    
same reason1 which virtually interdicted
  the use of the ,parasol to men1 that  
the daughters of the ,metci1  or        
strangers domiciled at ,athens1 carried1
 according to lian1  the sunshade of the
 ,athenian women in the spectacles and  
public  ceremonies1 whilst the fathers  
carried the vases destined for the      
sacrifices4    ,the 1 or ,sunshade ,hat1
 succeeded the ,parasol properly so     
called4 ,it is of these  that           
,theocritus speaks in several  places2  
it is also this hat1 and not a          
,sunshade1 which we must see in  the    
curious medal above1 stamped by the     
tolians1 which represents  ,apollo      
bearing this strange hat1 in the style  
of ,yokohama1 hanging on  his back4     

,from the most distant epochs the       
,sunshade has been considered1 so  far  
as it is the attribute of gods and      
sovereigns1 as the ensign  of           
omnipotence4 ,we see it playing this    
supreme rle1 not only by  right of an   
emblem of blazonry1 in the curious      
dissertation of the  ,chevalier         
,beatianus _/,on a ,sunshade of vermeil 
on a field argent1  symbol of power1    
sovereign authority and true            
friendship_/1 but also  we see it       
universally adopted as a sign of the    
highest distinction by  ,oriental       
peoples1 to be displayed over the head  
of the king in time  of peace1 and      
occasionally in time of war4    ,it is  
thus that it may be contemplated on the 
sculptures of ancient  ,egypt1 where its
 usage was not exclusively indeed       
reserved to the  ,pharaohs1 but         
sometimes also to the great dignitaries1
 but to  these only4 ,there is to be    
seen in ,wilkinson a strange engraving  
representing an thiopian princess seated

 on a _/plaustrum_/ or  carriage drawn  
by oxen1 and having behind her a vague  
personage armed  with a large ,parasol  
of an undecided form1 something between 
the  screen and the _/flabellum_/ in the
 segment of a circle4 ,is it not also   
in sign of adoration that it was the    
custom to put above the heads of  divine
 statues crescents1 ,sunshades1 little  
spheres1 which served not  only to      
guarantee these august heads against the
 injuries of time and  the ordures of   
birds1 but also to set their physiognomy
 in relief as  by a nimbus or crown of  
paganism8    ,the kings or satraps of   
,persia of the oldest dynasties were    
sheltered  by the sovereign ,parasol4   
,chardin1 in his _/,voyages_/1 describes
  bas-reliefs of a time long before that
 of ,alexander the ,great1  in which the
 king of ,persia is frequently          
represented sometimes  just about to    
mount his horse1 at others surrounded by
 young  slave-girls--beautiful as day1  
as a poet might write for sake of  a    

simile--among whom one inclines a       
,sunshade1 while another uses  a flyflap
 made of a horse's silky tail4 ,other   
bas-reliefs1 again1  represent the      
,persian monarch on a throne1 at the    
conclusion of a  victorious battle1     
whilst the rebels are being crucified1  
and writhe  under the punishment1 and   
prisoners brought up1 one after the     
other1  make humble submission4 ,here   
the ,sunshade has the floating          
appearance  of a glorious standard4 ,it 
symbolised also the power of life and   
death1 vested in the savage conqueror   
over the unfortunate conquered1         
delivered up wholly to his mercy4    ,in
 ancient ,india1 the cradle of the human
 race1 as it is said1 the  ,parasol in  
every time1 and more than anywhere else1
 is unfolded in  its splendour and the  
grace of its contexture1 as an immutable
 symbol  of royal majesty4 ,it seems    
really that it was under the deep azure 
of the admirable ,indian sky that the   
coquettish instrument1 of which  we are 

exposing here by literary zigzags the   
historic summary1 was  invented4 ,it    
must have been born there first as a    
fragile buckler to  oppose the ardour of
 the sun2 afterwards1 doubtless1 it     
developed1  little by little1 into a    
large dome1 carried in the arms of      
slaves1  or on the back of an elephant1 
showing the sparkle of its colours1  the
 originality of its form1 the richness  
of its tissues1 all  overloaded with    
fine gold and silver filigree1 making   
its spangles  and jewels scintillate in 
the full leaping light1 in the slow     
oscillation given to it by the march of 
its bearers1 or the swayings  of a heavy
 pachyderm1 in the midst of magic       
powers1 of dancers and  enchantments    
without number among the most bizarre   
palaces of the  world4    ,in ,hindostan
 the large ,parasol is commonly called  
_/,tch'ht_/1 the  small ordinary        
,parasol _/,tch'htry_/1 and the bearer  
of the ,parasol for  dignitaries        
_/tch'ht-wl_/4    ,the ,parasol _/of    

seven stages_/ 7_/savetraxat_/7 is the  
first ensign of  royalty3 it is found   
graven on the royal seal4 ,the mythology
 and  literature of the ,hindoos are1 so
 to speak1 confusedly peopled with      
,parasols4 ,in his fifth incarnation1   
,vishnu descends to ,hades with a       
,parasol in his hand4 ,on the other     
hand1 from the seventh century1  ,hiouen
 ,thsang has remarked1 according to the 
rites of the kingdom of  ,kapitha1      
,brhma and ,indra were represented      
holding in their hand1 one  a flyflap1  
the other a ,parasol4 ,in the           
_/,rmayana_/ 7ch4 xxvi4 _/scloka_/      
#ab71 ,sit1 speaking of ,rma1 whose     
beautiful eyes resemble the petals  of  
the lotus1 expresses herself            
thus--,covered with the ,parasol        
striped with a hundred rays1 and such as
 the entire orb of the moon1  why do ,i 
not see thy most charming face shining  
beneath it8    ,we read also in the     
_/,mahbrata_/ 7_/sclokas_/              
#dida-didc7--,the litter  on which was  

placed the inanimate body of the monarch
 ,pndou was  adorned with a flyflap1 a  
fan1 and a white _/,sunshade_/2 at the  
sound  of all the instruments of music1 
men by hundreds offered1 in honour  of  
the extinguished shoot of ,kourou1 a    
crowd of flyflaps1 _/white              
,sunshades_/1 and splendid robes4       
,the ,mahratta princes who reigned in   
,punah and ,sattara held the title  of  
_/,tch'ht pati_/1 ,lord of the ,parasol2
 and we are told that one  of the most  
esteemed titles of the monarch of ,ava  
was also that  of ,king of the ,white   
,elephant1 and ,lord of the             
,four-and-twenty  ,parasols4    ,when1  
in #ahgg1 the ,prince of ,wales1 future 
inheritor of the throne of  ,england1   
undertook his famous voyage into ,india1
 it was absolutely  necessary--says ,dr4
 ,w4 ,h4 ,russell1 the scrupulous       
historian of that  princely             
expedition--in order to make him known  
to the natives1 to  set the ,prince upon
 an elephant1 and to hold over his head 

the golden  ,sunshade1 symbol of his    
sovereignty4    ,there may be seen      
to-day in the ,south ,kensington        
,museum1 in the  admirable ,indian      
gallery which has just been installed1  
some score  of the ,parasols brought    
back by the ,prince from his voyage1 of 
which  each particular type deserves a  
description which cannot1 alas6 to  our 
sincere regret1 find its place here4    
,one may admire there the  state        
,umbrella of ,indore1 in the form of a  
mushroom2 the ,sunshade of  the ,queen  
of ,lucknow1 in blue satin stitched with
 gold and covered  with fine pearls2    
next the ,parasols of gilt paper1 others
 woven of  different materials1 some    
entirely covered with ravishing feathers
 of  rare birds1 all with long handles  
in gold or silver1 damascened1 in       
painted wood1 in carved ivory1 of a     
richness and an execution not to  be    
forgotten4    ,let us tear ourselves    
away1 as in duty bound1 from ,hindustan1
 to meet  again with the ,parasol on    

more classic ground in ancient ,rome1 in
 the  middle of the ,forum and of the   
games of the ,circus4 ,the ,sunshade is 
found very frequently in the most       
ancient paintings1 on stones and  vases 
of ,etruria1 a long while even before   
the ,roman era4 ,according  to ,pliny   
and ,valerius ,maximus1 it is from      
,campania that the ,velarium  comes1    
which is destined to defend the         
spectators from the sun4 ,the  use of   
_/the private ,sunshade for each        
person_/ established itself by  degrees 
on those days when1 on account of the   
wind1 the ,velarium  could not be used4 
,martial says in his _/,epigrams_/      
7,book ,,iv473        _/,accipe qu      
nimios vincant umbracula soles          
,sit licet et ventus1 te tua vela       
tegent4_/    ,people used the ,sunshade 
not only at theatres1 but also at       
battles1  and above all in the          
promenade4 ,ovid1 in his _/,fasti_/1    
shows us  ,hercules protecting his      
well-beloved ,omphale by means of a     

,sunshade  from the sun's rays3         
_/,aurea pellebant tepidos umbracula    
soles        ,qu tamen ,hercule         
sustinuere manus4_/    ,this image of   
,hercules carrying a light ,parasol     
would surely be  worthy to replace the  
used-up theme of the distaff8    ,the   
ancient ,romans brought to the          
decoration of their ,parasols a         
magnificence unknown in our days4 ,they 
borrowed from the ,east its  stuffs1 its
 jewels1 its ornamental style1 to enrich
 in the best  manner possible these     
pretty portable tents4 ,when            
,heliogabalus1  forgetting his sex1     
after the example of the priests of     
,atys1  appeared on his car clothed with
 the long dress and all the gewgaws     
that women wear2 when he caused himself 
to be drawn along surrounded  by legions
 of nude slave-girls1 he carried a fan  
in the guise of a  sceptre2 and not only
 was there a golden ,parasol in the form
 of a  dais stretched over his head1 but
 also at each side two _/umbellifer_/   

held light ,sunshades of silk1 covered  
with diamonds1 mounted on  ,indian      
bamboo1 or on a stem of gold carved and 
encrusted with the  most wondrous       
jewels4    ,in the train which          
accompanied a matron on the ,appian     
,way1 if we can  believe the historian  
of _/,rome in the age of ,augustus_/1   
two slaves  were obligatory3 the        
fan-bearer 7_/flabellifera_/7 and the   
follower  7_/pedis sequa_/74 ,the latter
 carried an elegant ,parasol of linen   
stretched over light rods at the        
extremity of a very long reed1 so  that1
 at the least sign of her mistress1 she 
might direct over her  the shadow of    
this movable defence4    ,the ,roman    
,umbrella seems to have been nothing but
 a simple morsel of  leather1 according 
to these verses1 which ,martial wrote by
 way of  advice3        _/,ingrediare   
viam clo licet usque sereno2        ,ad 
subitas nunquam scortea desit aquas4_/  
,this leather cloth was assuredly an    
,umbrella1 which1 except perhaps  in    

weight1 need have envied nothing of our 
own4    ,at ,rome1 as at ,athens1 the   
,sunshade appears to have hidden people 
from the looks of the gods1 for1        
according to ,montfauon1 even the       
,triclinia were covered with a sort of  
,sunshade1 that folk might  deliver     
themselves more mysteriously to orgies  
of every kind and to  the pleasures of  
,venus4    ,the material used in the    
manufacture of ,sunshades was           
originally1  according to ,pliny1 leaves
 of palm divided into two1 or the       
tresses  of the osier2 afterwards they  
were made in silk1 in purple1 in        
,eastern stuffs1 in gold1 in silver2    
they were adorned with ,indian  ivory2  
they were starred with trinkets and     
jewels4 ,one author tells  us even of   
,sunshades made out of women's          
hair--_/the hair of women so  arranged  
as to supply the place of a ,sunshade_/4
    ,singular headdress or singular     
,parasol6    ,juvenal speaks of a green 
,sunshade sent with some yellow amber to

 a  friend to celebrate her birthday and
 the return of spring4        _/,en cui 
tu viridem umbellam1 cui succina mittas 
,grandia1 natalis quoties redit1 aut    
madidum ver      ,incipit4_/    ,and    
with regard to this _/green_/ ,sunshade1
 apropos of the _/viridem_/1  all the   
commentators enter into the field1 and  
make a deafening noise  to explain that 
the epithet had no reference to the     
colour of the  ,sunshade1 but to the    
spring4    ,let us1 if you please1 leave
 ,rome1 without entering into these idle
  dissertations4    ,it would be        
difficult for us to find in the ,middle 
,ages numerous  manifestations of the   
,sunshade in private life2 it was       
evidently  adopted in the ceremonies of 
the ,christian ,church and in the royal 
_/entres_/2 but it was especially the   
privilege of the great1 and  never      
appeared save on solemn days in the     
processions1 as later on  the dais1     
reserved for kings and ecclesiastical   
nobles4    ,at ,venice the ,doge had    

already his celebrated ,sunshade in     
#aagf4  ,the ,pope ,alexander ,,iii4 had
 accorded to the ,venetian chiefs the   
right to carry the ,sunshade in the     
processions4 ,under the reign of  the   
,doge ,giovanni ,dandolo 7#abhh7 it was 
ordered that the pretty  golden         
statuette of the ,annunciation should be
 added1 which is seen  represented at   
the top of the ,sunshade of the         
,venetian dogate4    ,one can get some  
idea of this marvellous ,sunshade1 all  
of gold  brocade1 and of a pompous and  
original shape1 by looking at most of   
the prints of the time1 and particularly
 at the celebrated engraving  of the    
_/,procession of the ,doge_/1 as well as
 at the pictures of  ,canaletto1        
,francesco ,guardi1 ,tiepolo1 and the   
greater number of the  charming         
,venetian painters of the eighteenth    
century4    ,it seems evident that the  
,roman ,gauls knew the use of the       
,parasol1  but it would not be easy to  
demonstrate its existence logically in  

the martial and ,gothic epochs4 ,one can
 scarcely imagine these men  of arms1   
these gentle pages1 and these noble     
damsels1 with their  lofty head-gear and
 long dress1 defended by a frail silken 
_/encas_/  7in case74 ,they feared not  
then assuredly either sun or rain2 they 
dreamed of nought but _/batailloles_/   
7little battles71 according  to the     
language of that day2 everything was    
done in honour of the  ladies1 after the
 laws of the good ,king ,ren1 and the   
ladies would  certainly never have      
wished at the hour of the glorious      
tournaments  to shelter themselves at   
the approaches of the lists1 against a  
sun  which sparkled on the breastplate  
of their brave knights with as much     
brightness as the hope which shone in   
their eyes4    ,let us come now to      
,china1 to find there ,parasols and     
,umbrellas in  great honour1 since the  
beginning of the dynasty _/,tchou_/     
7eleventh  century before ,christ74     
,the ,umbrellas of that time1 says ,m4  

,natalis ,rondot1 resembled  ours2 the  
mounting was composed of twenty-eight   
curved branches1 and  covered with      
silken stuff4 ,the ,parasols were of    
feathers4    ,after the _/,thong-ya_/1  
it is only under the first ,wei 7,a4,d4 
#bbj-bfd7  that gentlemen began the use 
of ,parasols2 these ,parasols were most 
frequently made of little rods of bamboo
 and oiled paper2 pedestrians  never    
made use of them before the second ,wei 
7#chf-eed74 ,parasols  figure ordinarily
 in processions and funerals since the  
seventh  century4 ,thus1 in #fdh1 at the
 time of the inauguration of the        
,convent of the ,grand ,beneficence1 at 
,si-ngan-,fou1 one counted--says  the   
historian of the _/,life of ,hiouen     
thsang_/--only in the procession  three 
hundred ,parasols of precious stuffs4   
,the ,parasol in ,china1 as  in ,india1 
has always been a sign of elevated rank1
 although it has  not been exclusively  
used by emperors and mandarins4         
,formerly1 it  seems1 four-and-twenty   

,parasols were carried before the       
,emperor when  his ,majesty went to the 
chase4    ,a ,chinese of a rank at all  
elevated1 such as a mandarin1 a bonze1  
or a priest1 never goes out without a   
,parasol1 according to ,m4  ,marie      
,cazal1 a ,sunshade manufacturer1 who1  
about the year #ahdd1  wrote a small    
_/,essay on the ,umbrella1 the          
,walking-stick1 and their               
,manufacture_/4--',every ,chinese of a  
superior order is followed by his       
slave1 who carries his ,parasol extended
 over him4'    ,the ,umbrella in ,china 
is destined to the same use as the      
,parasol1  says ,m4 ,cazal3 it belongs  
to all4 ,never1 when the weather is the 
least degree doubtful1 does a ,chinese  
go out of doors without his  ,umbrella4 
,even horses are sheltered1 as well as  
elephants1 by  ,parasols or ,umbrellas  
fastened to branches of bamboo4 ,their  
drivers  take very good care not to     
illtreat them2 imbued as they are1 like 
every good ,chinaman1 with the doctrines

 of metempsychosis1 they  fear to       
torture the soul of their father or     
their grandfather1  reduced1 in order to
 expiate his faults1 to animate the body
 of these  quadrupeds4    ,the          
,umbrellas and ,parasols which are most 
common in ,china resemble  very much    
those which are imported into ,europe2  
they are made  entirely of stalks of    
bamboo1 disposed with enormous art1 and 
covered  with oiled1 tarred1 or         
lacquered paper4 ,some are coloured1 and
 have  printed on them religious        
allegories or sentences of ,confucius4  
,all the voyages in ,china and around   
the world are filled with details  of   
the ,chinese ,parasol4 ,the ,chinese    
women1 whose feet have been  compressed 
from infancy1 remarks ,m4 ,charles      
,lavolle1 can scarcely  walk1 and are   
obliged to support themselves on the    
handle of their  ,parasol1 which serves 
them for a walking-stick4    ,the       
,parasol and the ,fan in ,china play a  
rle so considerable1 that it  would be  

necessary to write a special monograph  
on each of these two  objects in order  
to consider properly their importance in
 the history  of the country and its    
current manners4 ,in a general and      
summary  sketch like the present1 must  
we not skim through1 rather than sew    
together documents collected with       
difficulty1 or found within reach1  and 
leave aside the more bulky bundles1     
under pain of foundering in  the folio  
form of heavy dictionaries8             
,everywhere on the exquisite decorative 
combinations of ,japan1  we see a large 
,parasol opened amidst delicate         
peach-blossoms1  gracious flights of    
strange birds1 indented leaves1 and rosy
  ibises4 ,sometimes1 on the inimitable 
paintings of the enamelled  vases1 the  
,japanese ,sunshade shelters a king's   
daughter1 escorted  by her followers1   
who makes her chaste preparations for   
entering  the bath2 sometimes1 on a thin
 gauze1 the ,parasol half hides women1  
promenading on the margin of some vast  

blue lake1 full of ideal  dreams4       
,sometimes1 in fine1 in a fantastic     
sketch of an album1 which  one reads as 
a riot of the imagination1 is perceived 
some human  being excited to a singular 
degree1 with hair tossed by the wind1   
and haggard eye1 floating at the will of
 the tumultuous waves on a  ,parasol    
turned upside down1 to the handle of    
which he clings with  the energy of     
despair4 ,the plates of the _/,voyage de
 ,ricord_/1 and  especially the old     
,japanese albums1 are useful to consult 
in order  to understand better the      
varieties of forms of the ,sunshade in  
,japan4 ,we gain a bizarre notion of the
 effects and services which a  ,japanese
 can obtain from a common ,parasol of   
his country by looking  at the games of 
the acrobats who come to us occasionally
 from ,tokio1  ,yedo1 or ,yokohama4     
,thophile ,gautier1 who was highly      
astonished1 and  not without reason1 at 
the quickness1 grace1 and daring of     
these  marvellous equilibrists1 has left

 us on this matter the fairest  pages1  
perhaps1 of his _/,feuilletons de       
,lundiste_/4 ,the worthy ,tho1  that    
,gallic ,rajah borrowed from these      
clowns1 astonishing in their  lightness1
 an enthusiasm which put on his palette 
as a colourist  the most vibrating tones
 and the finest shades4 ,the ,sunshade  
and  the ,fan are in fact presented by  
these magicians of the ,east with       
particular graces in the jugglery of the
 most varied exercises4 ,here  it is a  
ball of ivory which rolls with the      
bickering of a babbling  stream over the
 lamels or ribs of the ,sunshade2 there 
it is a ,parasol  held in equilibrium on
 the blade of a dagger1 and a thousand  
other  astonishing inventions4 ,all     
these fascinating feats of skill cannot 
be described save in the manner of      
,gautier1 in other words1 by  veritable 
pen-pictures4 ,admirable interpretation 
of things glimpsed  at6    ,in the      
tea-houses of ,tokio1 the pretty        
_/,geishas_/ often employ1 to  mimic an 

expressive dance1 the ,fan and the      
little paper ,parasol4    ,one of the   
most usual of their dances1 managed     
something like our  ballets1 is called  
the ,rain-dance4 ,this is the way in    
which a  _/,globe-trotter_/ gives an    
account of its leading idea and         
character3--    ,some young girls       
prepare to leave their homes1 and to    
pose as  beauties in the streets of     
,yedo4 ,they admire each other in       
playing  their fans1 they are dressed in
 superb toilets--they are sure of       
turning the heads of all the young      
_/samoura_/ of the town4    ,scarcely   
have they got out of doors when a thick 
cloud appears4  ,great disquietude6     
,they open their ,parasol1 and make a   
thousand  pretty grimaces1 to show how  
sadly they fear the ruin of their       
charming dresses4 4 4 4 ,a few drops of 
rain begin to fall3 they  quicken their 
steps on their way home again4    ,a    
burst of thunder occasioned by the      
_/,samisen_/ and the drums1 is  heard1  

which announces a terrible downpour4    
,then our four dancers  catch their     
robes with both hands1 and throw them   
with one sweep  under their arms1 and   
suddenly turning1 take to their heels1  
showing  us a row of little 4 4 4 4     
frightened faces1 saving themselves at  
the  full speed of their legs4    ,what 
a series of pantomimes1 in which the    
,sunshade must assume in the  hands of  
the charming _/,geishas_/ the most      
seductive positions6    ,among the      
,arabs the ,parasol was a mark of       
distinction 7as we learn  from ,m4 ,o4  
,s41 the ,english reporter of a         
commission which published a  small     
notice on _/,umbrellas1 ,parasols1 and  
,walking-sticks_/ in ,london  about     
#ahga74 ,there is the same importance   
attached to it among  certain blacks of 
,western ,africa1 who have probably     
borrowed it from  the ,arabs4 ,niebuhr1 
in the description of the procession of 
the ,imam  of ,sanah1 tells us that the 
,imam1 and every one of the princes of  

his numerous family1 had carried by     
their side a _/,madalla_/ or large      
,parasol4 ,it is in that country a      
privilege of princes of the blood4  ,the
 same writer relates that many          
independent chiefs of ,yemen bear       
_/,madallas_/ as a mark of their        
independence4 ,in ,morocco the ,emperor 
alone and his family have the privilege 
of the ,parasol4 ,in the  _/,voyages of 
,aly ,bey_/ we read in fact3--,the      
retinue of the ,sultan  was composed of 
a troop of from fifteen to twenty       
gentlemen as the  vanguard2 behind them1
 some hundred paces1 came the ,sultan1  
mounted  on a mule1 having beside him1  
also mounted on a mule1 an officer      
carrying the ,imperial ,parasol4 ,the   
,parasol is the distinctive sign of  the
 sovereign of ,morocco4 ,no one but he  
would dare to use it4    ,in certain    
tribes of central ,africa explorers     
speak of having  encountered1 amidst the
 tribes of the desert1 kings            
half-dressed in  ,european old clothes1 

taken or exchanged no one knows where2  
and1  strangely enough1 on the top of an
 old silk hat1 half-knocked in1 one  of 
these negro kings1 says a traveller1    
held with a sort of grotesque  majesty  
an old torn ,umbrella of which the      
whalebone appeared to be  half-broken4  
,this ,robert ,macaire of the desert1   
does he not recall  that pleasant       
equatorial fantasy of the               
_/,parnassiculet ,contemporain_/1  a    
sonnet terminating with the verses3--   
,what then is strange about this        
desert's pride1      ,who in the desert 
without thee had died8      ,btani      
answered1 ,child of open mien1          
,where on board ship he comes1 ,i tell  
you that      ,for full court-dress1    
this half-blood wears a hat      ,of an 
old shako1 trimmed with tufts of green6 
,this fantasy might serve as a theme for
 a dissertation on the  subject1        
,whither do worn-out things go8--what   
becomes of the old  umbrellas8 ,it would
 be a ballad full of colour for a       

,villon of the  present time4    ,to    
return to ,france1 many writers1        
romancists or dramatic authors1  having 
greater care of the splendour of the    
_/mise-en-scne_/ than  of absolute      
historic truth1 have presented us with  
some hunting  parties of the time of    
,henri ,,ii4 and ,henri ,,iii41 in which
 the noble  huntresses followed the deer
 on horses magnificently harnessed1     
holding in their hands hexagonal        
,sunshades fringed with gold and        
enriched with pearls4    ,we found truly
 a mention of the ,parasol in the       
_/,description of the  ,isle of the     
,hermaphrodites_/2 but it was then very 
rare in ,france1  and what is more1 very
 heavy1 and handled with such ceremonies
 that  a strong lackey must have had    
considerable difficulty in holding it   
up4 ,from this to place light ,sunshades
 of silk between the dainty  fingers of 
fair and gentle dames of that time1     
especially for a  hunt through the      
woods1 there is1 it seems to us1 a      

departure which  good sense alone1 not  
to mention historic science1 is quite   
enough to  point out4    ,the ,parasol  
was still very little known in ,france1 
even in the second  half of the         
sixteenth century4 ,it is fairly certain
 that1 like the  _/,fan_/1 and other    
objects so much in favour with          
,catherine de ,medici1  it was brought  
into ,france out of ,italy4 ,henri      
,estienne1 in his  _/,dialogues of the  
new ,french ,language ,italianised_/1   
#aegh1 makes one  of his interlocutors  
called ,celtophile say3  4 4 4 4 and _/ 
propos_/  of pavilion1 have you ever    
seen what some of the lords in ,spain or
  ,italy carry or cause to be carried   
about in the country1 to defend         
themselves1 not so much from the flies1 
as from the sun8 ,it is  supported by a 
stick1 and so made that being folded up 
and occupying  very little space1 it can
 when necessary be opened immediately   
and  stretched out in a circle so as to 
cover three or four persons4 ,and       

,philausone answers3 ,i have never seen 
one2 but ,i have heard talk of  them    
often2 and if our ladies were to see    
them carrying these things1  they would 
perhaps tax them with too great         
delicacy4    ,in ,italy it is little    
probable that since the ,romans the     
inhabitants  of the higher classes have 
ever unlearned the pleasant use of      
,parasols4 ,the majority of travellers  
notice them in all epochs1 and  in the  
_/,italian ,mysteries_/1 played in the  
fourteenth and fifteenth  centuries1 it 
is nearly certain that at the moment of 
their nave  representation of the       
,deluge1 the ,deity appeared on the     
stage with an  ,umbrella in his hand4   
,in the _/,journal and ,voyage of       
,montaigne_/ in ,italy1 the good        
philosopher1 who teaches us so few      
matters beyond his own personal         
sufferings1 deigns1 nevertheless1 to    
aver that the supreme good taste  of the
 women of ,lucca was to have incessantly
 a ,parasol in their  hands4    ,no     

season1 says also elsewhere this        
charming epicurean essayist1  is so much
 my enemy as the sharp heat of sunshine1
 for the  _/,sunshades_/1 which are used
 in ,italy since the time of the ancient
  ,romans1 charge the arms more than    
they discharge from the head4    ,so1   
too1 ,thomas ,coryat1 an ,english       
tourist of that time1 in his            
_/,crudities_/ 7#afaa71 speaks of the   
,italian ,parasols1 after having        
noticed the presence of ,fans in the    
towns through which he had  travelled3  
,many ,italians1 he says1 do carry other
 fine things of a  far greater price1   
that will cost at the least a ducat     
7about seven  francs71 which they       
commonly call in the ,italian tongue    
_/,umbrells_/1  that is1 things that    
minister shadow unto them for shelter   
against  the scorching heat of the sun4 
,these are made of leather1 something   
answerable to the form of a little      
canopy1 and hooped in the inside  with  
divers little wooden hoops1 that extend 

the _/,umbrella_/ in a  pretty large    
compass4 ,they are used especially by   
horsemen1 who carry  them in their hands
 when they ride1 fastening the end of   
the handle  upon one of their thighs1   
and they impart so large a shadow unto  
them  that it keepeth the heat of the   
sun from the upper parts of their  body4
    ,fabri1 in his useful and remarkable
 work1 _/,diversarum ,nationum          
,ornatus_/ 7additio7 confirms this fact 
from #aeic1 in taking care to  represent
 a noble ,italian1 travelling on        
horseback with a ,parasol in  his hand3 
_/,nobilis ,italus ruri ambulans tempore
 statis_/4    ,what variety this simple 
detail1 more propagated or rather better
  vulgarised among our romancists1 would
 have thrown into the great  romances of
 adventure6 ,we should have seen the    
protecting ,sunshade  marking from a    
distance1 by its colour and elevated    
shape1 the  presence of the rich        
traveller to be robbed1 in the mountains
 of  ,tuscany1 while the brigands of the

 time kept their watch in the  folds of 
the rocks2 then1 too1 we should surely  
have witnessed1  in passionate recitals 
of heroic combats1 the buckler ,parasol1
  already full of holes1 torn into      
shreds1 yet still serving to  parry     
victoriously the blows of the ferocious 
cut-throats and  cloak-snatchers4       
,and how many sonorous and unforeseen   
titles are there of which we  have been 
deprived by this fact of our ignorance3 
_/,the ,knights of  the                 
,sunshade_/--_/,the ,heroic             
,parasol_/--_/,the ,state ,courier_/1 or
 _/the  ,sunshade ,recovered_/6 4 4 4 4 
and who can say how many more6    ,the  
,arsenal1 the old ,hotel de ,sully1     
preserved for a long time one  of those 
,parasols1 which librarians named the   
_/,pepin_/ 7seed-fruit7  _/of ,henri    
,,iv4_/ ,it was very big1 and entirely  
covered with blue  silk1 with long and  
distinctly precious flowers of the      
golden lily  scattered over it4 ,this   
,parasol1 ministerial or royal1 is      

doubtless  lost1 and we speak of it only
 after the description which the learned
  bibliophile ,jacob has given us4      
,daniel ,defoe1 who published his       
_/,robinson ,crusoe_/ in #agai1 was  one
 of the first to mention to any extent  
the ,parasol in ,england4  ,before him1 
as we shall see farther on1 it had been 
named only very  summarily in literary  
works4 ,so firmly fixed in our          
imaginations as  men1 the children of   
yesterday1 is the great ,umbrella of    
,crusoe1 and  his dreadful alarm on     
seeing the print of a man's foot on the 
shore1  as well as his walks with his   
dog and _/,friday_/ the good ,caribbee2 
it presents itself1 moreover1 so clearly
 in our first literary  remembrances1   
that we will reproduce the passage of   
the journal where  it is mentioned3     
,after this1 says ,crusoe1 ,i spent a   
deal of time and pains to make  me an   
,umbrella4 ,i was indeed in great want  
of one1 and had a great  mind to make   
one4 ,i had seen them made in the       

,brazils1 where they  are very useful in
 the great heats which are there2 and ,i
 felt the  heats every jot as great     
here1 and greater too4442 besides1 as ,i
 was  obliged to be much abroad1 it was 
a most useful thing to me1 as well  for 
the rains as the heats4 ,i took a world 
of pains at it1 and was a  great while  
before ,i could make anything likely to 
hold2 nay1 after ,i  thought ,i had hit 
the way1 ,i spoiled two or three before 
,i made one  to my mind2 but at last ,i 
made one that answered indifferently    
well2  the main difficulty1 ,i found1   
was to make it to let down3 ,i could    
make it to spread1 but if it did not let
 down too1 and draw in1 it  would not be
 portable for me any way1 but just over 
my head1 which  would not do4 ,however1 
at last1 as ,i said1 ,i made one to     
answer2 ,i  covered it with skins1 the  
hair upward1 so that it cast off the    
rain  like a pent-house1 and kept off   
the sun so effectually1 that ,i could   
walk out in the hottest of the weather1 

with greater advantage than  ,i could   
before in the coolest2 and when ,i had  
no need of it1 ,i could  close it and   
carry it under my arm4    ,and this     
,parasol1 for a century and a half1 has 
been popularised by  the engraver1 with 
its dome of hair and rude manufacture2  
and so all  the poor little prisoners at
 school invoke it1 and dream often that 
they carry it in some desert isle1 for  
it represents to their eyes a  life of  
open air and liberty4           99      
99       99       99       99    ,before
 ,daniel ,defoe1 ,ben ,jonson had       
already mentioned the ,parasol in       
,england in a comedy played in #afaf2   
and ,drayton1 sending some doves  to his
 mistress in #afbj--;a delicious lover's
 fancy--formulated in his  passioned    
verses the following desire3 _/,may     
they1 these white turtle  doves ,i send 
you1 shelter you like ,parasols under   
their wings in  every sort of weather4_/
    ,in the relation of his _/,voyage in
 ,france_/ in #afge1 ,locke1 speaking   

of ,sunshades1 says3 ,these are little  
articles and very light1 which  women   
use here1 to defend themselves from the 
sun1 and they seem  to us very          
convenient4 ,afterwards the ,english    
ladies desired to  possess these pretty 
,parasols1 although1 by reason of their 
climate1  such things could hardly be of
 any use to them4 ,it was not1 however1 
till the eighteenth century that a      
,london manufacturer bethought  himself 
of inventing the ,sunshade-,fan1        
compared with which it appears  the     
,french folding _/marquises_/ were as   
nothing4 ,this ingenious  fabricator    
made a considerable fortune2 but if we  
are to believe the  _/,improvisateur    
,franois_/1 his invention was rapidly   
imitated and much  improved in ,paris4  
,why has it not been preserved to our   
own days8    ,but let us linger in this 
seventeenth century1 and remain awhile  
in ,france1 where the ,parasol was not  
in use1 save at court among  the great  
ladies4 ,men never used it to shelter   

themselves from the  rain--the cloak and
 sword were still alone in fashion4     
,mnage tells us in his _/,mnagiana_/1   
that being with ,m4 de ,beautru1  about 
#afhe1 in the midst of a pouring rain at
 the door of the ,htel  de ,bourgogne1  
up came a ,gascon gentleman1 without a  
cloak1 and nearly  wet through2 the     
,gascon1 seeing himself stared at1 cried
 out1 ,i  would lay a wager now my      
people have forgotten to give me my     
cloak4  ,to which ,m4 de ,beautru       
quickly replied1 ,i go halves with you4 
,the silk ,sunshade1 however1 properly  
so called1 appeared in the hands  of    
women of quality1 at the promenade1 on  
the race-course1 or in the  vast alleys 
of the royal park of ,versailles1       
towards the middle of  the reign of     
,louis ,,xiv4 ,the ,umbrella of that    
time was an instrument  astonishingly   
heavy and very coarse in appearance1    
which it seemed  almost ridiculous to   
hold in the hand4 ,in #afbb it was in   
some measure  a novelty in ,paris1 since

 in the _/,questions ,tabariniques_/1   
cited by  that useful author1 the late  
,m4 douard ,fournier1 in _/,the ,old and
 the  ,new_/1 we read these lines about 
the famous felt hat of ,tabarin3--      
,it was from this hat that the invention
 of ,parasols was drawn1 which  are now 
so common in ,france that they are no   
longer called ,parasols1  but           
_/,parapluyes_/ 7,umbrellas7 and        
_/,garde-,collet_/ 7collar guards71 for 
they are used as much in winter against 
the rain as in summer against  the sun4 
,the most ancient engraving or          
_/documentary_/ image of ,french manners
  in which we see a ,parasol is dated   
#afbj4 ,it is the frontispiece of a     
,collection of ,saint ,igny1 _/,the     
,french ,nobility at ,church_/4         
,parasols1 however1 were still very     
little used in the seventeenth  century2
 the _/,prcieuses_/ who1 instead of     
saying ,it rains1 cried  out1 _/,the    
third element falls6_/ would never have 
missed finding  some amiable            

qualificative to designate this         
necessary article  invented against     
,phbus and ,saint ,swithin4 ,but        
,saumaise reveals to us  nought on this 
subject1 and one would be almost tempted
 to believe  that the _/,philamintes_/  
and _/,calpurnies_/ attached no         
importance to  this rustic and movable  
,pavilion4 ,what1 however1 is clearly   
shown  by the ancient prints is the     
employment of the ,parasol in the form  
of a small round canopy which ladies of 
quality had borne by their  valets when 
walking in the primly arranged gardens  
of their lordly  residences1 whilst the 
gentlemen marched before1 wrapt in their
  cloaks1 with the felt hat inclined    
over one eye4    ,parasols were then of 
so coarse a form1 and their weight made 
them so  difficult to be carried1 that  
they could not be easily utilised by    
ordinary people2 they are never found in
 any of those very curious  engravings  
which give a confused idea of the       
rumblings and mobs of  the streets under

 ,louis ,,xiv4 ,boileau and ,franois    
,colletet have not  mentioned them      
amidst the _/,obstacles and ,bustle of  
,paris_/2 and the  _/,cries of the      
,town_/ which have come down to us do   
not indicate that  in the seventeenth   
century any man with _/',brella-a-a-a-s 
to sell6_/  had contributed his mournful
 melopa to the lagging cries of the     
street4    ,that is easily understood4  
,we see that a ,parasol1 in the middle  
of  the grand century1 weighed #afjj    
grammes1 that its whalebones had  a     
length of #hj centimetres1 that its     
handle was of heavy oak1 and  that its  
massive carcass was covered with        
oilcloth1 with barracan1  or with       
coloured grogram4 ,the whole was held by
 a copper ring fixed  at the extremity  
of the whalebones2 it was the labour of 
a porter  to preserve oneself1 with an  
instrument like this1 from the pelting  
shower6 ,better still3 often these      
,parasols were made of straw1 and1  if  
we believe the _/,diary and             

,correspondence of ,evelyn_/1 about     
#afej1  they affected in some degree the
 form of metal dish-covers4    ,however1
 it is something very like a ,sunshade  
which we find about  #afhh in the hands 
of a woman of quality1 dressed in a     
summer habit  _/ la ,grecque_/1 of which
 ,n4 ,arnoult has preserved faithfully  
for us  the pleasing outline1 in a      
pretty design made common by engravings4
  ,this ,parasol has the appearance of a
 mushroom1 well developed and  slightly 
flattened at its borders2 the red velvet
 which covers it is  divided into ribs  
or rays1 by light girdles of gold1 and  
the handle1  very curiously worked1 is  
like that of a distaff1 with swellings  
and  grooves executed by the turner4    
,altogether1 this coquette's ,sunshade  
is very graceful1 and of great richness4
    ,in the most varied literary works  
of the seventeenth century1  memoirs1   
romances1 varieties1 dissertations1     
poems1 enigmas1 carols1  and songs1     
there is not a word of allusion to the  

,parasol1 there  is an entire penury of 
anecdote1 nothing whatever on the       
subject4  ,it is useless to torture your
 understanding1 to look through a       
miserable needle's eye1 at the          
_/,letters_/ of ,madame de ,svign1 the  
gossip of ,tallemant1 the               
_/,conversations_/ of ,mademoiselle de  
,scudry1  the _/,anecdotes_/ of ,mnage1 
the poetical collections1 the different 
_/,chats_/1 the _/,medleys_/--it is but 
a library overturned to no purpose1  a  
headache gained without the slightest   
profit4    ,in a ,,ms4 collection1      
written about #afgf1 which relates the  
memoirs  of ,nicolas ,barillon1 a       
comedian1 this phrase alone attracts our
  attention3 ,the days being very hot1  
the lady carried either a mask  or a    
,parasol of the most precious leather4  
,from this mask or ,parasol of precious 
leather no conclusion can be  drawn     
better than that of the ,dictionaries of
 the ,anti-,academician1  ,antoine      
,furetire1 or of the learned ,richelet1 

where we find a rsum  of the ideas of   
the time4 ,here1 then1 is the definition
 of the  first3--     _/,parasol_/1 s4  
m41 a small portable piece of furniture1
 or round   covering1 carried in the    
hand1 to defend the head from the great 
heats of the sun2 it is made of a circle
 of leather1 of taffety1 of   oilcloth1 
c4 ,it is suspended to the end of a     
stick2 it is folded   or extended by    
means of some ribs of whalebone which   
sustain it4 ,it   serves also to defend 
one from the rain1 and then it is called
 by   some _/parapluie_/ 7umbrella74    
,the definition of ,richelet is almost  
the same4 ,he adds1 however1  these     
words3 ,only women carry ,parasols1 and 
they only in spring1  summer1 and       
autumn4 ,richelet1 it is true1 borders  
upon the  eighteenth century1 since he  
died but a little before the end of  the
 reign of ,louis the ,great4 ,this      
brings us to the aurora of the          
,regency1 and a renaissance then occurs 
in feminine coquetry4 ,we are  now about

 to find our ,sunshade in gallant       
parties1 supported by  little turbaned  
negroes2 already we see it decorated    
with fringes of  gold and trimmings of  
silk1 enhanced with plumes of feathers1 
mounted  on ,indian bamboos1 covered    
with changing silks1 embellished in a   
thousand and one ways1 worthy1 in a     
word1 of casting a discreet shade  on   
those rosy and delicate faces which     
,pater1 ,vanloo1 ,lancret1 ,la          
,rosalba1 and ,latour did their best to 
reproduce in luminous paintings  or     
fresh pastels1 those enchanting pictures
 where the coquetry of the  past smiles 
still4    ,like all objects of adornment
 in the hands of women1 the ,sunshade in
  the last century became1 like the     
,fan1 almost a light and graceful       
plaything1 serving to punctuate an      
expression1 to round a gesture1  to arm 
an attitude of charming reverie1 in     
which1 guided by pretty  indolent       
fingers1 its point traces vague designs 
upon the sand4  ,before the burning     

breath of amorous declarations1 often   
the frail  ,sunshade escapes from the   
hands of a beauty1 in sign of armistice1
  and as an avowal of abandonment4      
,be it open1 and daintily held over     
powdered hair1 or shut1 and  brushing   
the brocaded petticoat1 it is always the
 balancing pole  of the ,graces4 ,it    
gives a value to listlessness on the    
rustic seat  of the parks1 under the    
vaulted roofs of grottoes1 and it adds a
  piquancy to the frowardness of the    
feminine chatterers1 who defend         
themselves by making fun of libertine   
attacks4 ,in a word1 in the  light      
amorous allegories of the century1 it is
 worthy to appear in  those love-duets  
of _/,leanders_/ and _/,isabellas_/1    
which ,watteau often  composed with so  
rare an art of refinement4    ,from the 
middle of the last century the ,umbrella
 of taffety became  the fashion at      
,paris4 ,caraccioli1 in his             
_/,picturesque and ,sententious         
,dictionary_/1 gives us evidence of     

this3 ,it has long been the  custom1 he 
says1 not to go out save with one's     
,umbrella1 and to  trouble oneself by   
carrying it under one's arm4 ,those who 
wish not to  be confounded with the     
vulgar1 prefer to run the risk of       
getting wet  to being regarded as people
 who walk on foot1 for the ,umbrella is 
the  sign of having no carriage4    ,the
 ,parasols were made by the             
purse-makers1 and when1 by an edict of  
,august #aggf1 the manufacturers of     
gloves1 purses1 and girdles were  united
 in one community1 an article thus      
conceived may be read in  their         
statutes3 ,they alone also still have   
the right to make and  manufacture all  
sorts of ,umbrellas and ,parasols1 in   
whalebone and in  copper1 folding and   
non-folding1 to garnish them atop with  
stuffs of  silk and linen1 to make      
,umbrellas of oilcloth1 and ,parasols   
adorned  and ornamented in all sorts of 
fashions4 ,according to the _/,journal  
of a ,citizen_/1 published at the ,hague

 in #aged1 the price of folding         
,parasols was then from #ae to #bb      
livres a piece1 and the ,parasol for    
the country from #i to #ad livres4      
,we must1 however1 believe that the     
common folk of ,paris did not yet  dare 
to purchase ,parasols1 since            
,bachaumont1 in the _/,secret           
,memoirs_/1  dated #fth ,september      
#agfi1 records the following            
enterprise3--    ,a company has lately  
formed an establishment worthy of the   
town of  ,sybaris4 ,it has obtained an  
exclusive privilege to have ,parasols1  
and to furnish them to such as fear     
being incommoded by the sun  during the 
crossing of the ,pont-,neuf4 ,there are 
to be offices at  each extremity of the 
bridge1 where the voluptuous dandies who
 are  unwilling to spoil their          
complexion1 can obtain this useful      
machine2  they will return it at the    
office on the other side1 so            
alternately1  at the price of two       
farthings for each person4 ,this project

 has  already been put in execution4 ,it
 is announced that if this invention    
succeeds1 there is authority to         
establish like offices in other  places 
in ,paris1 where skulls might be        
affected1 such as the ,place  ,louis    
,,xv41 c4 ,it is probable that these    
profound speculators will  obtain the   
exclusive privilege of ,umbrellas4      
,did this enterprise succeed8 ,we cannot
 tell4 ,all that is certain is1  that it
 was tried many times in our own epoch  
by innovators1 who had  no idea that    
even the letting out of ,parasols was   
not absolutely new  under the sun4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,a great progress was realised in the   
eighteenth century in the  manufacture  
of ,sunshades for ladies4 ,the small    
ordinary ,parasols  became exceedingly  
light1 and charmingly decorated4 ,in a  
picture of  ,bonaventure ,delord1 in the
 ,louvre1 we find the exact type of     
these  coquettish ,sunshades of the last
 century4 ,one1 which is held by a      

laughing beauty in the midst of a       
picnic1 is mounted on a long stem1  and 
the top1 made of yellow buckskin1       
appears to have four sides2 a  cap of   
turned copper1 and of a very pretty     
shape1 profiles its tiny  ,chinese gable
 on the grass4    ,so1 too1 may be seen 
in the collection of ,madame la ,baronne
 ,gustave  de ,rothschild1 a very       
curious ,sunshade which belonged to     
,madame de  ,pompadour4 ,it is of blue  
silk superbly decorated with wonderful  
,chinese miniatures in mica1 and        
ornaments in paper very finely  cut and 
affixed to the background4 ,fortified   
probably with such a  ,sunshade as this1
 the pretty favourite1 at the time of   
the rage for  pastorals1 which followed 
the appearance of ,bouffier's story of  
_/,aline_/1 betook herself to the shady 
walks of the ,petit ,trianon at         
,versailles1 with her female friends1 to
 see the white sheep milked1  and to    
steep the carnation of her lips in the  
warm milk1 of which  the young ,abb ,de 

,bernis--who gathered so willingly      
madrigals and  bouquets for             
,chloris--compared the whiteness to that
 of her peerless  bosom4    ,everywhere1
 in the pictures and engravings of the  
century we catch  a glimpse of these    
same light ,sunshades or ,umbrellas     
which approach  so nearly those of the  
present day4 ,we see the one or the     
other in  the _/,prints of ,moreau the  
,younger intended to serve as a         
,companion  to the ,history of ,fashions
 and ,customs in ,france_/1 in the      
_/,crossing  the ,river_/1 after        
,gamier1 in public festivals1 as well as
 amidst  the hubbub of the crowds1 which
 ,moreau shows us in the _/,great ,court
  ,carriages in_/ #aghb1 as in the minor
 popular rejoicings1 like _/,the        
,ascension of a ,fire-balloon_/1 after  
the engravings of the period4  ,the     
,sunshade introduces also a little touch
 of gaiety into the large  pictures of  
,joseph ,vernet2 in his _/,view of      
,antibes_/ and his _/,port of           

,marseille_/ the painter has placed in  
the hands of pretty promenaders         
adorable little pink ,sunshades1 through
 which the light seems to  filtrate1 in 
the silk's transparency4 ,later on1     
lastly1 before the  royal sitting of    
#bc;d ,june1 #aghi1 the ,umbrella plays 
its historic part  in the ,revolution1  
by protecting the gentlemen of the      
,third ,estate1  left at the door of the
 ,assembly under a pelting rain1 not    
very well  disposed to receive the      
,king's order1 ,gentlemen1 ,i command   
you to  disperse yourselves at once6    
,strange6 at a time when the ,parasol   
was generally adopted in ,france1  it   
was yet very little known in ,england   
and among the peoples of  the ,north4   
,at ,venice even1 where we have made our
 researches1 the  first person who used 
a ,sunshade1 about the middle of the    
eighteenth  century1 was ,michel        
,morosini1 a senator of high rank1 who1 
braving  all prejudices1 appeared one   
day in his gondola1 bearing a small     

green ,sunshade1 unarched1 of a         
quadrangular form1 surmounted by a  tiny
 copper spire1 of very delicate         
workmanship4 ,the fair ladies of        
,venice adopted this indispensable after
 this manifestation of the  noble       
,michel ,morosini1 but the ,sunshade1   
nevertheless1 appeared not  in all      
patrician hands in the gondolas of the  
,great ,canal1 and on the  ,piazza of   
,saint ,mark1 till about the year #agfj4
    ,in ,england1 in the first half of  
the last century1 the ,parasol and  the 
,umbrella were hardly ever used2        
however1 in a passage of the            
_/,tatler_/1 ,swift alludes to one of   
them in #agfj1 when he describes for  us
 a little sempstress1 with her          
petticoats tucked up1 and walking  along
 in a great hurry1 whilst the rain      
trickles down from the  ,umbrella3      
,the tucked-up sempstress walks with    
hasty strides1      ,while streams run  
down her oiled ,umbrella's sides4       
,again1 there is at ,woburn ,abbey an   

admirable portrait1 painted about       
#agcj1 of the ,duchess of ,bedford1     
followed by a little negro1 who  holds  
above her head a sumptuously decorated  
state ,parasol4    ,it is right to say  
that during the first years of the last 
century  people could not procure       
,umbrellas in ,london except in the     
coffee-houses1 where they were placed in
 reserve to be let out to  customers    
during heavy showers of rain4 ,the first
 ,english citizen  who really introduced
 absolutely and unconditionally the     
,umbrella to  the nation was ,jonas     
,hanway1 the founder of the ,magdalen   
,hospital4  ,this audacious man--for    
audacious he must have been thus to     
brave  the prejudices of a people the   
most prejudiced in the world--this  rash
 person had the courage never to go out 
into the streets of  ,london without his
 ,umbrella from the year of our ,lord   
#agej4 ,like  the majority of           
innovators1 he was scoffed at1 reviled1 
derided1  caricatured2 he had to bear in

 his daily walks the quips and insults  
of the mob1 the stones and jostlings of 
the vagabond boys2 but he had  also the 
honour of triumphing1 and of seeing by  
degrees1 after twenty  years of         
perseverance1 his example followed to   
such an extent that  at the time of his 
death in #aghf he could declare with    
pride that1  thanks to him1 the         
,umbrella was for ever implanted in     
,england1 an  imperishable institution4 
,to-day1 our neighbours across the      
,channel talk of erecting a statue  to  
,jonas ,hanway1 as a homage publicly    
paid to a philanthropist4 ,it  might be 
asked in what attitude this peaceable   
humanitarian is to be  represented1     
whether the ,parasol of bronze is to    
remain shut up in  his right hand1 or if
 it will be opened in all its amplitude 
over the  head of its protector1 thus   
become its _/protg_/4    ,about the time
 when ,jonas ,hanway died1 ,roland de la
 ,platire made1  in his _/,manufactures1
 ,arts1 and ,trades_/1 this curious     

observation3  ,the use of ,parasols is  
to such an extent established in ,lyons1
 that  not only all the women1 but even 
the men1 would not cross the street     
without their little ,parasol in red1   
white1 or some other colour1  garnished 
with blonde lace1 an article which1     
owing to its lightness1  can be carried 
with ease4    ,at the approach of the   
,revolution1 the ,umbrella became       
popular1 and  served as a tent for the  
fishwomen and other feminine hucksters4 
,then first appeared the enormous       
,umbrella of red serge among the  people
 of the markets1 and the ordinary       
,umbrella in the hands of  the          
,sans-,jupons 7the unpetticoated74      
,amidst the enthusiasms and  revolts of 
the streets the ,umbrella was           
frantically waved by the  hands of the  
women of the people1 and when1 on the   
#cast ,may #agic1  ,throigne de         
,mricourt undertook her ill-starred     
defence of ,brissot1  in the midst of a 
multitude of old hags1 who cried ,down  

with the  ,brissotins6 ,umbrellas were  
lifted like so many improvised swords   
over the _/,ligeoise_/1 smote her in the
 face1 lashed her everywhere1  scanning 
as it were with their strokes the odious
 cries of _/,ah6 the  ,brissotine6_/ and
 provoking in the unhappy revolutionary 
,amazon the  madness of which she died  
so sadly at the ,salptrire4    ,the     
,parasol of the ,jacobins for a time    
made a show of severity1  in opposition 
to the knotty sticks and coquettish     
,parasols of the  ,muscadins 7dandies7  
and ,incroyables 7beaux72 the           
,merveilleuses  7feminine exquisites71  
on the other hand1 hoisted vaporous     
,sunshades  like their vestments of     
nymphs4 ,then it was that fashion gave  
their  due to the rights even of this   
frail protector of the ,graces2 every   
kind of extravagance was allowed1 every 
stuff accepted1 however  dazzling and   
however precious4 ,in the public gardens
 of ,paris1 all  the fashionable        
beauties displayed unusual luxury in the

 decoration  of their ,sunshades2 there 
were tender greens1 figured gold stuffs1
  flesh-coloured tints with scarlet     
fretworks1 tender blues trimmed  with   
silver1 ,indian cashmeres or tissues1   
the whole mounted on  handles of        
affected roughness or of exquisitely    
delicate work4 _/,ma  paole supme_/1 as 
the exquisite used to say1 it must be   
seen to be  believed4 ,nothing could be 
more coquettish than these ,parasols1   
streaked1 striped1 pied1 fretted1 as the
 complement of a dress _/  l',omphale_/1
 _/ la ,flore_/1 _/ la ,diane_/1        
appearing in a swiftly driven  carriage1
 above a jacket _/ la ,galate_/1 or a   
tunic _/au ,lever de  l'aurore_/1 amidst
 egrets1 plumes1 tufts of ribbons1 and  
every kind of  feminine adornment4      
,towards the close of the eighteenth    
century1 the ,sunshade was always       
covered with the most fashionable tints 
and with stuff of the latest  taste of  
the time4 ,parasols were to be seen     
dressed in _/stifled  sighs_/1 and      

garnished with _/useless regrets_/1     
others adorned with  ribbons _/aux      
soupirs de ,vnus_/ 7,venus' sighs71     
whilst the fashion  exacted by turns    
such colours as _/coxcombs' bowels_/1   
_/,paris mud_/1  _/,carmelite_/1        
_/flea's thigh_/1 _/king's eye_/1       
_/queen's hair_/1 _/goose  dung_/1      
_/dauphin's dirt_/1 _/opera flame_/1    
_/agitated nymph's thigh_/1  and other  
names which were the singular           
qualificatives of particular  shades1   
the rage and infatuation of the hour4   
,the young priests carried a light      
violet or lilac ,parasol1 to remain  in 
the tone of their general dress--perhaps
 by episcopal orders4 ,in  the same way1
 the ,roman ,cardinals are still        
followed in their walks  by a deacon1   
carrying a red ,parasol1 which makes    
part--like the  hat--of the ordinary    
luggage of the ,monsignori4    ,this    
word luggage1 which has just fallen from
 our pen1 would seem  to call the       
attention to the rle of the ,sunshade or

 the ,umbrella  in the ,travels of the  
last century4 ,was the ,parasol         
considered as  indispensable luggage    
before going on any expedition8 ,we     
cannot  affirm this4 ,the author of _/,a
 ,journey from ,paris to ,saint-,cloud  
by  ,sea and by ,land_/ writes1 before  
embarking at ,pont-,royal3 ,i kept  for 
my personal carriage only my repeater1  
my pocket-flask full of  _/sans         
pareille_/ water1 my gloves1 my boots1 a
 whip1 my riding-coat1  my pocket       
pistols1 my fox-skin muff1 my green     
taffety ,umbrella1 and  my big varnished
 walking-stick4 ,but here we have more  
of a pretty  conceit of the eighteenth  
century1 a sort of cotquean traveller1  
who encumbers himself with useless      
objects4 ,we have consulted many        
_/,almanacks serving as ,guides for     
,travellers_/1 and containing a  detail 
of everything which is necessary to     
travel comfortably1  usefully1 and      
agreeably1 from #agfj to #agfe3 nowhere1
 however1 was  the ,umbrella prescribed1

 either for foot passengers or for those
 on  horseback2 on the contrary1 the    
anonymous editor of those guides  seems 
sometimes to laugh at the simplicity of 
the tourist from ,paris  to             
,saint-,cloud1 and he adds that a       
traveller in good health ought to       
content himself with strong boots and a 
cloak of good cloth4 ,even a            
walking-stick1 he says1 often consoles  
the walker only in imagination4    ,the 
,umbrella-,walking-stick--who would     
believe it8--was1 however1  known from  
#ageh1 and very convenient ,parasols    
were then made1 of  which the dimensions
 could be reduced so as to suit the     
pocket4 ,a  certain ,reynard announced  
in #agfa ,parasols which fold on        
themselves  triangularly1 and become no 
thicker or more voluminous than a       
crush-hat4 ,these ,umbrellas were1 it   
seems1 very common about #aggj3  the    
stick was in two pieces1 united by a    
screw1 and the ribs were  folded back   
several times4    ,but let us not       

abandon the chronological order in      
returning thus  upon our own steps1     
after the example of a romance writer of
 #ahdj4  ,we have scarcely caught a     
glimpse of the ,sunshade in our passage 
through the sixteenth1 seventeenth1 and 
eighteenth centuries1 in the  desultory 
speed of this free chat1 in which our   
prose leaps as in a  steeple-chase of   
charming designs4 ,we have confounded   
occasionally  the two denominations     
_/,sunshade_/ and _/,umbrella_/ in the  
more general  word _/,parasol_/3 but if 
we have travelled a little in every     
direction1  we have not had the leisure 
to stop anywhere as a lounger or        
analyst4 ,and here we are at the        
beginning of this century1 at the       
,empire1 but the nation is helmed1 the  
sun of ,austerlitz requires  not a      
,sunshade2 woman holds merely the second
 place in this hour in  which ,france   
handles but the costly toys of glory1   
and if we find  at all an ,umbrella1 it 
is in the field1 with the general staff 

of  the army1 during some misty night1  
when it is used to shelter the          
commander-in-chief1 who studies on his  
map the plan of battle of the  morn4    
,the ,sunshade shows more favourably in 
the hour of peace1 during the           
,restoration4 ,all the journals of      
fashion of the time give us curious  and
 varied specimens of it in their steel  
engravings1 hand-coloured1  which show  
us1 during those days of a lull1 languid
 ladies in the  midst of amusing        
decorations1 in winter amidst snowy     
country scenes1  in summer in a park of 
profound distances1 on some rustic      
bridge1  where the mistresses of the    
manors of that time allowed their       
romantic reveries slowly to wander4 ,we 
can follow in the innumerable  ,monitors
 of elegance1 which appeared from #ahae 
to #ahcj1 from year  to year1 from      
season to season1 the variations        
introduced into the  decoration of the  
little ladies' ,parasols4 ,look for a   
moment3 here  are ,sunshades1 covered   

with coloured crape1 or damasked satin1 
with  checkered silk1 streaked1 striped1
 or figured2 others enriched with       
blonde or lace1 embroidered with        
glass-trinkets1 or garnished with       
marabou feathers1 with gold and silver  
lace1 or silk trimming2  the fashionable
 shade is then very light or very deep1 
without  intermediate tones3 white1     
straw yellow1 pink or myrtle-green1     
chestnut and black1 purple-red1 or      
indigo4 ,but a hundred pages would  not 
suffice us to catalogue these fashions  
of the ,sunshade3 let us  pass onward4  
,the use of the ,umbrella extends itself
 little by little through all  classes2 
already in the slang of the people it is
 known under the  names of the          
_/,mauve_/7871 the _/,riflard_/1 the    
_/,ppin_/1 the _/,robinson_/4  ,umbrella
 manufactories have1 since the beginning
 of this century1  propagated rapidly in
 ,france4 ,before #ahae--this seems     
scarcely  credible--,paris had no great 
manufactory of ,parasols4 ,but from     

#ahjh  to #ahea alone1 we can reckon    
more than #ajc patents for inventions   
and improvements relating to ,umbrellas 
and ,sunshades4 ,among the most         
extravagant patents1 we must quote1     
after ,m4 ,cazal3--     7#a47 ,a patent 
for invention of an ,umbrella           
walking-stick with a   field-glass2     
7#b47 ,a patent for invention of        
,umbrellas and ,sunshades combined      
with walking-sticks1 shutting up in a   
copper case1 in the form of a           
telescope2     7#c47 ,a patent for      
invention of an ,umbrella walking-stick1
 containing   diverse objects for       
writing or other purposes1 and called   
_/,universal   ,walking-stick_/2        
7#d47 ,a patent for invention of methods
 of manufacturing ,umbrellas   and      
,sunshades1 opening of themselves1 by   
means of a mechanism placed   inside the
 handle2     7#e47 ,a patent for an     
,umbrella walking-stick1 of which the   
sheath may   be folded at pleasure1 and 
carried in the pocket4    ,in spite of  

these genially grotesque inventions of  
,umbrella-,telescopes and of            
,parasol-,walking-sticks1 we have always
  come back to the ,umbrella simple1    
without mechanism1 or to a light  stick 
without any pretensions to defend us    
from the rain4 ,there are  so many      
complications in an object intended for 
many uses1 that an  educated mind will  
always refuse to adopt it4    ,but      
without speaking further of the         
technology of the ,umbrella1 we  will   
relate an anecdote which ran through all
 the minor journals of  the             
,restoration1 terminating like an       
apologue4 ,we shall adopt the  form and 
style of the time in our narrative of   
this little historic  story1 which      
should be entitled _/,the ,sunshade and 
the ,riflard_/4    ,one fair summer     
afternoon1 the promenaders in the       
,parisian ,champs  ,elyses might have   
seen1 seated on a chair beside a pretty 
woman1  whose interesting situation was 
plainly visible1 a peaceable citizen    

making an inventory of all his pockets  
in their turn1 without finding  the     
purse from which he intended to draw the
 few halfpence which the                
chair-proprietress demanded4    ,the    
search is useless2 it is impossible for 
him to pay2--the  proprietress          
indignant1 almost rude1 threatening to  
make a  disturbance1 is only satisfied  
by the gentleman taking from the hands  
of his companion a ,sunshade of green   
silk1 with fringes1 mounted on  a reed1 
and a yellow glove1 and giving them to  
the irascible lady1  saying to her1     
,well1 madam1 keep this ,sunshade as a  
pledge1 and give  it to no one unless he
 offer you a ,glove the fellow of this4 
,the pair departed1 slowly arrived at   
the ,place de la ,rvolution1  then at   
the ,boulevard de la ,madeleine1 when   
they were surprised  by a violent       
shower2 cabs were not to be had1 the    
rain increased1  they were forced to    
seek refuge underneath a carriage       
entrance4 ,the  peaceable citizen had   

already taken his companion to this     
shelter1  when a portier1 with an       
otter-skin cap1 came out1 beseeching the
  lady and gentleman to accept the      
hospitality of his little room1  where a
 leathern arm-chair and a stool were    
immediately1 and with  very good grace1 
offered to the invited pair4 ,the rain  
still pouring  down1 the portier1 more  
and more affable1 took from a corner of 
his  small lodge a superb ,umbrella of  
green serge1 and offered it to his      
guests1 declaring that all he had was at
 their service4    ,the gentleman1 in   
much confusion1 accepted with many      
thanks the  ,umbrella1 and sheltering   
with it the interesting young woman1 who
 had  tucked up her dress in the        
prettiest style1 they both ventured out 
into the midst of the deluge4     4 4 4 
4 ,an hour afterwards1 a footman in very
 stylish livery  returned to the honest 
portier cobbler his precious ,umbrella1 
with four notes for a thousand francs1  
from the ,duke de ,berry2 next          

directing his course to the ,champs     
,elyses1 that same footman sought  out  
the chair-proprietress1 and said to her3
    ,you recognise this ,glove1 ,madam8 
,here are four pence1 which my lord1    
the ,duke of ,berry1 has ordered me to  
remit to you1 to redeem the  ,sunshade  
of the ,princess ,caroline4    ,touching
 and eternal legend of virtue1 not      
without a recompense6    ,under ,louis  
,philippe1 the ,umbrella or ,riflard    
became _/patriarchal_/  and             
_/constitutional_/2 it represented      
manners austere and citizenlike1  and   
symbolised the domestic virtues of order
 and economy4 ,it might be  set in the  
royal trophy in saltier with the        
sceptre1 and it became  a part in some  
sort of the national militia1 with the  
attributes of  angling1 culinary        
laurels1 and other symbols of           
,philistine life4    ,all the           
independents of ,paris1 ,bohemians1     
literary men with flowing  manes1 and   
artists chanted in the _/,rapinide_/1   

all the hirsute folk  of the years #ahcj
 to #ahej rose in insurrection against  
the ,ppin  of the burgess4 ,this word   
_/,ppin_/ was then an epigram against   
,louis  ,philippe1 whose pear-shaped    
head was caricatured1 and who never left
  his home without his ,umbrella4       
,anglomania had not yet penetrated1 as  
in the present day1 into ,french        
manners2 and the dandyism of #ahcj1     
which pretended that the carrying  of a 
walking-stick required a particular     
skill1 repelled the ,umbrella  as       
contrary to veritable elegance4 ,the    
,umbrella was countrified1 the  property
 of gaffer and gammer2 it was tolerable 
only in the hands of  one who had long  
renounced all pretensions to any charm1 
and dreamed  no more of setting off in  
the promenade the haughty profile of a  
conqueror4 ,in the cross ways1 in every 
public place in ,paris1 the  large      
,parasol1 red1 or the colour of         
wine-lees1 had become1 as it  were1 the 
ensign of the strolling singer who      

retailed ,branger to  the crowd2 it     
served as a shelter for acrobats in the 
open air2 it  surmounted the improvised 
trestles of the sellers of tripoli1 of  
an  universal ointment2 it ascended even
 the chariot of the quacks2 later  on it
 served as a set-off for the plumed     
helmet of ,mangin1 the pencil  merchant2
 and it is still under a copper         
,parasol1 commonly called  _/,chinese   
bells_/1 that the man-orchestra causes  
an excitement in the  court-yards by    
ringing his little bells4    ,in the    
provinces1 on market or great fair days1
 the ,umbrellas opened  in picturesque  
confusion above the flat baskets and    
provisional  establishments of the      
country women2 there were red1 faded    
blue or  chestnut ones1 inexpressible   
green or old family ,umbrellas1         
heirlooms  descended from generation to 
generation1 which protected the little  
rural tradeswomen1 and added a          
particular character full of colour to  
these primitive markets of little towns4

    ,the ,umbrella6 we behold it in the 
dreams of our school-days4 ,here  is the
 severe and sombre ,umbrella of the     
headmaster1 symbol of his  pedantic     
authority1 when he passed us in review  
in the cold and damp  playground4 ,here 
is the ,riflard of the poor usher1 a    
celebrated  _/,ppin_/1 covered with a   
mottled cotton-stuff1 its bill-headed   
handle  polished by his unctuous clasp4 
,and here1 above all1 is an ,umbrella   
greeted with loud acclaim1 a festive    
,crusoe1 which followed us when  out    
walking1 as the sutler follows the      
regiment on the march1 the  ,umbrella of
 _/,mother ,sun_/1 as we used to call   
it3 _/,mother ,sun6_/ an  honest jolly  
wench1 with her head in a silk          
pocket-handkerchief tied  under her     
chin1 who installed herself beneath the 
shelter of her  improvised tent about   
our playtime1 to sell to her noisy      
_/children_/  cooling lemonade1 fruit1  
barley-sugar1 and little white rolls    
stuffed  with hot sausages4    ,but let 

us leave these souvenirs1 which carry us
 too far away1 and  return to the       
_/,sunshade_/ between #ahcj and #ahgj4  
,if we wished to show  only its         
transformations during these forty      
years1 we should have  to write a volume
 quite full of coloured vignettes to    
give a feeble  idea of the history which
 fashion creates in an object of        
coquetry4  ,about #ahcd1 in the journal 
called _/,le ,prote_/1 we see fashion   
personified under the traits of a young 
and pretty woman visiting  the finest   
shops in ,paris2 she fails not to go to 
,verdier1 in the  ,rue ,richelieu1 for  
,sunshades1 and chooses two--one a      
full-dress  ,sunshade1 in unbleached    
silk casing1 mounted on a stick of      
,american  bindweed1 with a top of gold 
and carved coral2 the other in striped  
wood1 having a similar top with a fluted
 knob1 and covered with  myrtle green   
paduasoy1 with a satin border4    ,let  
us skip over some hundreds of           
intermediate varieties to look a  dozen 

years afterwards1 under the ,second     
,republic1 at the ,sunshade  described  
by ,m4 ,a4 ,challamel in his _/,history 
of ,fashion_/3 ,as soon1  says this     
writer1 as the first ray of sunshine    
appeared1 ladies  armed themselves for  
their walks or morning calls with little
  ,sunshades1 entirely white1 or pink1  
or green4 ,sometimes the ,sunshades     
called ',marquises' were edged with     
lace1 which gave them rather  a ragged  
appearance2 or having the shape of      
little ,umbrellas1 the  ,sunshades could
 serve at need against a sudden storm4  
,very soon we  saw ,sunshades _/        
dispositions_/ bordered with a figured  
garland1 or  a satin stripe of the same 
colours1 or blue or green on unbleached 
silk1 or violet on white or sulphur4    
,a fashion1 not1 it will be allowed1 in 
the very best taste3--,up  to #ahec or  
#ahed1 we find no innovation worthy of  
exciting our  enthusiasm2 it is only in 
the first days of the ,second ,empire   
that we  can see a marked change4 ,the  

straight ,sunshades were then abandoned 
to introduce ,sunshades with a folding  
stick1 principally for those  made in   
satin and in moire antique1 bordered    
with trimmings or set  off with         
streamers4 ,these ,sunshades were called
 _/ la ,pompadour_/1  and they were     
worthy1 in a certain degree1 of the     
beauty who  personified grace and       
delicate elegance in the eighteenth     
century2  they were embroidered after   
the old fashion with gold and silk1 and 
on the richness of the stuffs was cast  
or frilled in ,chantilly1  point        
d',alenon1 guipure1 or blonde4 ,the     
folding-sticks were of  sculptured      
ivory1 of carved mother-of-pearl1 of    
rhinoceros horn1 or  of tortoise-shell4 
,it is with this light ,sunshade that   
the ,parisian  ladies saluted the       
,empress1 caracoling by the side of the 
,emperor1 at  the commencement of his   
reign1 on their return from the ,wood1  
in the  ,champs ,elyses1 which began to 
look beautiful1 as everything looks     

beautiful at the spring-tide of years1  
as well as at the springtime  of        
governments4 ,all in nature has surely  
its fall of the leaf1 after  having had 
the verdure of its blossom6--all tires1 
all passes1 all  breaks3 men1 kings1    
fashions1 and peoples6    ,the ,sunshade
 is found to-day in the hands of every  
one1 as it  should be in this practical 
and utilitarian age4 ,there is not1 at  
the present hour1 any woman or girl of  
the people1 who has not her  sunshade or
 her satin _/en-tout-cas_/--it seems to 
be the indispensable  complement of the 
toilet for the promenade2 and our modern
 painters  have so well understood this 
gracious adjunct of feminine costume1   
that they take very good heed not to    
forget1 in a study of a  woman made in a
 full light1 a rosy head with           
dishevelled hair1 on  the transparent   
ground of a ,japanese ,sunshade1 thus   
producing an  exquisite work with all   
freshness of colouring1 and discreet    
shadows  sifted upon sparkling eyes or a

 laughing mouth4 ,on ,sundays and       
holidays1 in the jostlings of the crowd 
at suburban ftes1 it is like  an eddy of
 ,sunshades2 such the spectacle of      
ancient besiegers1 who  covered         
themselves with their bucklers and made 
the tortoise1 so in  the shimmer of the 
summer sun in the great ,parisian parish
 festivals3  gingerbread fairs of       
,saint-,cloud or ,vaugirard1 the        
,sunshade is on  the trestles and among 
the promenaders2 it protects equally the
 girl  dancing on the tight-rope and the
 respectable citizen's wife in her      
,sunday best1 who rumples the flounce of
 her petticoats in these  popular       
gatherings4    ,surely the ,sunshade    
adds new graces to woman6 ,it is her    
outside  weapon1 which she bears boldly 
as a volunteer1 either at her side1  or 
inclined over her shoulder4 ,it protects
 her head-dress1 in  supporting her     
carriage1 it surrounds as with a halo   
the charms of  her face4    ,the        
,sunshade1 writes ,m4 ,cazal--or rather 

,marchal1 as the so-called  ,charles de 
,bussy1 who edited1 in the name of the  
manufacturer1 the  little work already  
quoted1--the ,sunshade1 like a rosy     
vapour1  attenuates and softens the     
contour of the features1 revives the    
vanished tints1 surrounds the           
physiognomy with its diaphanous         
reflections4 ,there is the ,sunshade of 
the great lady1 of the young  person1 of
 the tradesman's wife1 of the pretty    
lorette1 of the little  workwoman1 just 
as there is the ,sunshade of the town1  
of the country1  of the garden1 of the  
bath1 of the barouche1 and the          
,sunshade-whip4    ,how many volumes1   
continues the same writer with          
animation1 would  be required to        
describe in its thousand fantasies the  
kaleidoscope of  feminine thought in the
 use of the ,sunshade8 ,under its rosy  
or azure  dome1 sentiment buds1 passion 
broods or blossoms2 at a distance the   
,sunshade calls and rallies to its      
colours1 near at hand it edifies  the   

curious eye1 and disconcerts and repels 
presumption4 ,how many  sweet smiles    
have played under its corolla6 ,how many
 charming signs  of the head1 how many  
intoxicating and magic looks1 has the   
,sunshade  protected from jealousy and  
indiscretion6 ,how many emotions1 how   
many  dramas1 has it hidden with its    
cloud of silk6    ,m4 ,charles ,blanc1  
less dithyrambic1 in his _/,art in      
,dress and  ,ornament_/1 commences his  
chapter on the ,sunshade--,do you       
imagine  that women have invented it to 
preserve their complexion from the      
heats of the sun8 4 4 4 4 ,certainly1   
without doubt2 but how many  resources  
are furnished them by this need of      
casting a penumbra over  their face1 and
 what a grudge they would have against  
the sun1 if it  gave them no pretext for
 defending themselves against his rays6 
,in  that work of art called a woman's  
toilet1 the ,sunshade sustains the  part
 of the chiaro-oscuro4    ,in the play  
of colours it is as a glazing4 ,in the  

play of light it  is as a blind4    ,for
 the last dozen years1 fashion has      
varied1 with every new season1  the mode
 and covering of ,sunshades4 ,to-day    
they have become artistic  in all       
points1 and after having been in turns  
in spotted foulard1  and set off with   
ribbons or lace1 after the ,parasol     
walking-stick1  the maroon or           
cardinal-red ,parasol1 have succeeded   
the checkered  taffetas1 the ,madras    
cretonnes1 the ,pompadour satins1 the   
figured  silks4 ,their handles are      
adorned with porcelain of ,dresden1 of  
,svres1 or of ,longwy1 with various     
precious stones1 and with jewels  of all
 sorts2 and lately1 among some wedding  
presents1 amidst a dozen  ,sunshades1   
one remarkable specimen was entirely    
covered with point  lace1 on a pink     
ground clouded with white gauze1 having 
a jade handle  with incrustations of    
precious stones up to its extreme point4
 ,a  golden ring gemmed with emeralds   
and brilliants1 attached to a gold      

chain1 served as a clasp for this       
inestimable jewel4    ,but in this style
 of hasty conference in which we are    
running from  the ,sunshade to the      
,umbrella1 let us not neglect the       
latter1 whose  last name is             
_/paratrombe_/ and _/paradluge_/1 which 
,m4 de ,balzac1 in  the _/,pre          
,goriot_/1 calls a bastard descended    
from a cane and a  walking-stick4 ,the  
,umbrella has inspired many             
writers--writers of  vaudevilles1       
romances1 poetry1 and humorous pieces2  
on it little  ingenious monographs have 
been composed1 little sparkling verses1 
articles in reviews1 very serious from  
the trade point of view2 many  couplets 
have been rhymed at the ,caveau and     
elsewhere on the ,ppin  and the         
,riflard2 on the stage has been         
interpreted _/,my ,wife and  ,my        
,umbrella_/1 _/,oscar's ,umbrella_/1    
_/,the ,umbrella of ,damocles_/1 and    
_/the ,umbrella_/ of the poet           
,d',hervilly4 ,this useful article has  

also  inspired the realist ,champfleury 
in a joyous tale1 entitled--_/,above    
all1 don't forget your ,umbrella6_/     
,everywhere1 with variations and        
unheard-of paraphrases1 has the social  
part of the ,umbrella been  shown to us2
 the meetings occasioned by it on stormy
 days2 the  _/,ppin_/ gallantly offered 
to young girls eating apples in distress
  whilst it is raining on the           
,boulevards2 we have had described to us
  the gentleman who follows the ladies  
fortified with his ,umbrella1  the      
weapon of his fight1 and many tales and 
novels begin with one  of these         
,parisian meetings at a street corner on
 a wet evening4  ,the utility of the    
,umbrella in different ways has been    
insisted  on1 of the painter's          
,umbrella1 of the ,umbrella for men     
called _/sea  bath_/2 and the sad melopa
 of the ,french seller of ,umbrellas in 
the  street1 whose prolonged cry of     
_/parrrphluie_/ has been carefully      
annotated4 ,lastly1 there have been too 

many pictures representing a  coquettish
 workwoman1 whose petticoats have been  
turned up by the  wind1 and whose       
,parasol has been turned inside out2 but
 that which  has never been written with
 the humour which such a subject allows1
  the master-piece which has never yet  
been accomplished1 is the  _/,physiology
 of the ,umbrella_/4    ,there is no    
doubt that bibliographers will put under
 our eyes a thin  book of the lowest    
character which affects this title1 and 
is edited  by _/,two ,hackney           
,coachmen_/1 but it is nought but the   
humbug of the  ,umbrella--its           
_/,physiology_/ in its entirety is yet  
unaccomplished4  ,balzac would have     
found therein matter for an immortal    
work1 for  there is a dash of truth in  
that fantastic aphorism uttered by some 
journalist in distress1 ,the ,umbrella  
is the man4    ,eugne ,scribe has left  
us a modest quatrain on the ,umbrella1  
worthy  of his operatic muse--        ,a
 friend of mine1 new1 true1 and rare1   

,and all unlike the common form2        
,who leaves me when my sky is fair1     
,and reappears in days of storm4        
,this almost equals that other quatrain1
 more ancient still1 signed by  the good
 abb ,delille--        ,this precious1  
supple instrument1 confect        ,of   
the whale's bone1 and of the silkworm's 
grave1      ,with outstretched wing1 my 
brow will oft protect        ,from the  
wet onslaught of the pluvial wave4      
,have we not here ,academic verse well  
made for the ,umbrellas of the          
,academicians6    ,to come to extremes3 
among the popular songs1 we hear the    
song of  _/the ,umbrella_/1 a ditty     
found in a whale--        ,the good     
,umbrella may be sung        ,in many   
airs and ways2      ,the ,umbrella1 be  
we old or young1        ,will serve us  
all our days4      ,it keeps true love  
from getting wet1        ,and catching  
cold at night2      ,it hides the thief1
 to business set1        ,from the      
policeman's sight4                      

,umbrella6      ,then buy yourself1 for 
fear of rain1      ,a solid1 useful1    
good1 and plain              ,umbrella6 
,in fact1 for rain we cannot sell a     
,much better thing than our ,umbrella6  
,this funny song is well worth the      
tiresome verse sung at present--        
,he has not an ,umbrella1 well          
,it is no matter1 while it's fine2      
,but when the rain comes down pell-mell1
        ,why1 then he's wetted to the   
spine6 4 4 4 4    ,certainly one ought  
to write a physiological monograph of   
these black  mushrooms1 which to-day    
protect humanity1 just as one ought to  
rhyme  a poem of the dainty ,sunshade1  
that pretty rosy cupola1 which is one   
of the most charming coquetries of a    
,frenchwoman4    ,we write this _/one   
ought_/ with a vague sadness1 with the  
discouragement which makes us wish for  
the future1 what we should  have been so
 glad to bury in the past4 ,in beginning
 our work1 we  experienced a careless   
joy1 we thought the end was near on our 

very  entry into the field1 and that we 
should quickly attain it1 with  the     
satisfaction of having created a little 
work1 both complete  and altogether     
graceful2 but once on our way1 ferreting
 without  relaxation in all the literary
 thickets where some ,parasol might lie 
buried1 in the fold of a phrase1 in the 
middle of a story1 of an  anecdote1 or  
of a dissertation1 of some fact1 we have
 gathered so  ample a harvest1 our sheaf
 has become so large1 so very large1    
that  it was impossible for us to bind  
our arms about it1 after having         
co-ordinated its various parts4 ,it is  
but a few poor strays then  which lie   
stranded here1 the flotsam and jetsam of
 our hope1 sole  vestiges of a project  
which1 like all projects1 became        
,homeric as it  grew great in the       
workshop of the imagination4    ,we end 
this essay1 therefore1 with a sentiment 
of ridicule1 in which  we laugh at our  
own selves1 that of having dreamed of   
making a  perfect monograph1 and of     

having produced nothing more than a     
little  tumbled fantasy1 which          
ironically steals away out of sight1    
like  that minuscular mouse1 of which   
the mountain was once upon a time       
delivered in much moaning4    ,what     
matter6 ,we must end4 ,let us hide our  
melancholy retreat  by humming this last
 lovely burden of a poet of the school  
of  ,clairville--        ',tis called a 
_/,ppin_/1 a _/,riflard_/1      ,and    
other viler names there are2      ,not  
one of all the ,umbrella moves4         
,wisely it counts them no disgrace2     
,since--child of ,april's art--the loves
      ,oft make their quivers of its    
case6           ,,the ,,glove     ,,the 
,,mitten          ,,the ,,glove         
_/,,the ,,mitten_/    _/,to ,mme4 ,h4 de
 ,n4_/      ,well1 my dear friend1 here 
,i am1 faithful as you see to my        
appointment2 ,i am come deliberately to 
fulfil my promise1 which ,i so          
imprudently gave on a certain day last  
season1 upon a ,breton strand1  you     

remember1 while contemplating one of    
your rosy little hands1  which was      
whipping its sister with a long ,swedish
 glove1 in a sort  of angry pet1 and    
gave to you an appearance of wild and   
exquisite  bluster8    ,how did you     
manage1 ,o ,enchantress1 to induce me to
 give my loyal word  that ,i would write
 for you the _/,history of the ,glove_/8
 ,how6 4 4 4 who  can ever say8 ,when a 
pair of pretty eyes envelop you1 and    
bathe you  with their radiance1 when a  
smile puts honey into your heart1 and a 
tiny little hand is stretched out with  
open palm1 seeming to say1  ,take me1   
every kind of will melts quickly away1  
consent mounts  delightedly to the lips1
 and we promise at once everything1     
before we  know well what we are asked4 
,ah1 unhappy me6 it is the ,glove of    
,nessus which you have placed upon  my  
hand6 ,the ,history of the ,glove6 why1 
it is the history of the  world2 and ,i 
should be very ill-advised if ,i        
pretended _/avoir les  ,gants_/ to be   

the first to tell that history1 as      
ancient as it is  universal4    ,haunted
 by this debt of honour1 contracted to  
please you1 ,i  went lately to see a    
learned old friend of mine1 a venerable 
,benedictine--better than a well of     
science2 an ocean of  indulgence--to    
whom ,i exposed my foolish enterprise of
 the ,glove and  the ,mitten4    ,ah1 my
 friend1 ,i only wish you could have    
seen him all at once leap  from his     
seat1 look at me with compassion1       
examine me profoundly with  his eye1 and
 murmur three times in a tone of        
ineffable astonishment  and sadness1 as 
though he believed me mad--    ,the     
,glove6--the ,glove66--the ,glove666--  
4 4 4 ,and so it is the ,glove1 he went 
on1 when he had become a  little calmer1
 it is the history of this offensive and
 defensive  ornament1 of this object so 
complex1 of which the origin is so      
obscure and so troublesome1 it is a     
monograph of the ,glove that you  desire
 to write6 4 4 4 ,my dear child1 allow  

me to believe that you  have not        
reflected on what you have engaged      
yourself to do1 let  me think that you  
have brought more lightness than reason 
to the  conception of this enterprise4  
,the ,glove6--,why1 with the history of 
the ,shoe1 it is the most formidable    
work that a learned man could  dare to  
dream of executing4 ,look1 he sighed1   
dragging forth a  voluminous manuscript1
 in the _/,bibliography of ,words_/1 a  
colossal  work1 which ,i have commenced1
 but1 alas6 shall never end1 ,i see at  
the word ,,glove more than fifteen      
hundred different works1 ,latin1        
,greek1 ,italian1 ,german1 ,spanish1    
,english1 and ,french1 which treat of   
this matter1 and even this is but the   
rudest sketch4 ,we must consider  the   
use of the ,glove amongst the ancient   
,hebrews1 the ,babylonians1  the        
,armenians1 the ,syrians1 the           
,phnicians1 the ,sidonians1 the         
,parthians1 the ,lydians1 the ,persians1
 the ,greeks1 the ,romans1 c4    ,it    

would be necessary to divide the work   
into different ,books1  subdivided into 
innumerable ,chapters2 thus for the     
etymology alone of  _/the word ,glove_/1
 in the different dialects1 must be     
reserved a long  notice of comparative  
philology2 it would be necessary to     
determine  if the ,glove which was used 
by the young nude girls1 who wrestled   
together in ,lacedmon1 after ,lycurgus  
had installed there his ,lyceums  and   
public games--if this ,glove1 ,i say1   
ought to be classed among the  fighting 
mufflers or the leathern gauntlets--and 
how many matters  besides6 ,and my dear 
old friend became still more and more   
excited1  ever widening the question1 as
 if1 it seemed to me1 it were a case of 
establishing a complete ,encyclopedia4  
,diderot and d',alembert would  have    
grown pale before that imperturbable    
science1 which showed  mountains of     
folios to be cleared away1 and unknown  
precipices to be  sounded4    ,but1 ,i  
hazarded in a little confusion1 ,i only 

think of writing a  light treatise1 a   
thin volume of a few pages1 one of those
 nothings  carried off by the wind1     
which pass for a second1 like an        
anecdote or  tale1 into a pretty        
feminine cerebellum2 ,i wish to give    
hardly a line  to other countries than  
,france1 just to graze incidentally the 
,glove  of challenge1 to speak only from
 memory of the pontifical ,gloves1  to  
neglect the side of manufacture1 the art
 of preparing the skins1  of removing   
the outside skin1 and so on4 ,i only    
desire in one word  to chat for a few   
instants1 disconnectedly and in fits and
 starts1  on that portion of clothing   
which the ancients called               
_/,chirothec_/1  _/,gannus_/1           
_/,gantus_/1 _/,guantus_/1 _/,wanto_/1  
and _/,wantus_/1 if ,i may trust  the   
_/,glossary_/ of ,du ,cange4    ,alas1  
that is true1 cried my old friend1 in a 
sadly modulated tone2  ,i am doting1 eh8
 ,we1 of the old school1 it is we who   
are the wet  blankets1 the tedious      

savants4 ,at the present day1 when      
journalism is  to literature what the   
piano is to music1 an instrument upon   
which  every one strums without any     
conviction1 is it not necessary to cut  
matters short1 and quickly create       
eternal _/ peu prs_/ 7pretty much  the  
sames71 little light dissertations1     
notices made on the spur of  the moment1
 and superficial passion8 ,we were in   
our time egotists1  fervent solitaries1 
unreadable and unread1 if you will2 what
 does it  matter8 ,when a work had      
fastened on our mind1 we espoused it1   
after  a legitimate love1 with all the  
joys of generation and paternity4 ,we   
wished to endow our labour with all the 
qualities which it seemed  able to bear1
 to such an extent1 that it became dry1 
rugged1 and  severe4 ,but how many were 
the delights not to be forgotten1 in    
those  traces followed for whole days1  
before our utterance of the joyous      
_/,eureka6_/--how many inward           
intoxications in that slow-brooding     

season1 in that patient labour6--how    
many minute investigations  before      
resolving a historic doubt6 ,we were the
 exclusives of national  erudition1 and 
thought one work sufficed for one man1  
when he had fed  it with his life1 with 
his watchings1 with his very heart1 with
 all  the tenderness of the creative    
workman4    ,i should like1 he          
continued1 to have twenty years to ride 
a  hobby-horse1 which would make me rest
 at stopping-places for ten1  fifteen1  
twenty years1 on a thorny work1 and     
offer me splendid runs1  full of        
adventure1 across the highways and      
secret paths of science4  ,i would      
commit the follies of ,doctor ,faustus1 
to return to the age  of those first    
bibliographic loves1 which have the     
future brilliant  and open before       
them--and this ,glove which you disdain1
 my dear young  friend--this ,glove     
which you dwarf to the ideal of a       
doll--this  ,glove1 ,i would pick it up1
 hold it carefully1 clear off with it   

like  a cat1 and ensconce myself with it
 in my savant's den1 to take a good     
long sniff at it1 to study it1 and to   
analyse it every day more and  more1    
until at last ,i drew from it a serious 
and lasting work4    ,this ,glove should
 not be thrown at the public1 like one  
of those  challenges which recall too   
distinctly the celebrated ,glove which  
,charles ,v4 sent to ,westminster by a  
mere scullion--an accentuation  of the  
insult offered to the ,king of          
,england--it should be cast more        
lovingly1 as in our old romances of     
chivalry1 _/the ,romance of the         
,rose_/1 of _/,rou_/1 or of             
_/,perceforet_/4 ,if ,i were but twenty 
years old1  ,i would do with the reader 
as ,petrarch did with ,laura1 in        
demanding  of her nothing more than the 
favour of picking up her ,glove2 and ,i 
would say to him later on1 after the    
fashion of ,marot1 poetically1 in       
offering my work3--       ',deign to    
receive these ,gloves with goodly cheer1

      ,my true heart's present of the   
coming year4'    ,and then ,i would     
speak of those ,mittens with which      
,xenophon  reproaches the degenerate    
,persians1 of those ,roman finger-stalls
  employed in the olive crop1 and even  
of that glutton named ,pithyllus1  who  
carried delicacy so far as to make a    
,glove of a sheath of skin  for his     
tongue4    ,the good old man1 kindled by
 his enthusiasm1 became transformed2 he 
seemed desirous to take upon himself the
 whole history of the ,glove1  which he 
embroidered at once with fancy and the  
most varied anecdote  that his wonderful
 memory could supply4 ,after having     
distinguished1  in the ,middle ,ages1   
many sorts of ,gloves1 such as the      
_/usual_/ ,glove1  the _/falconer's_/   
,glove1 the _/workman's_/ ,glove1 the   
_/feminine_/ ,glove1  the _/military_/  
,glove1 the _/seignorial_/ ,glove1 and  
the _/liturgical_/  ,glove1 he attacked 
with a zest bordering on frenzy the part
 of the  ,glove of the knights and men  

in armour of the heroic battles of the  
past1 at a time when individual prowess 
could still display itself2  he quoted  
the ,chronicles of ,du ,guesclin and ,de
 ,guigneville3--       ,rich basinets he
 ordered to be brought1      ,and       
,gloves with iron spikes with horror    
fraught4    ,he showed me1 without      
recourse to aught but his own erudition1
 the  transformation of these iron      
gauntlets1 first into mail1 like the    
coat1 then into movable plates of flat  
iron1 adapted to the movements  of the  
hand2 he explained to me the lining1    
where the palm was of  leather or stuff1
 and at last1 exhuming the ordinances of
 #acaa1 he  made me penetrate into the  
details of the manufacture3--    ,that  
no one should make ,gloves of plates1   
except the plates are  tinned or        
varnished1 or beaten1 or covered with   
black leather1 red  leather1 or samite1 
and that under the head of every nail   
should be  set a rivet of gold4    ,ah1 
my fair friend1 if you could have seen  

this strange man so  suddenly taken by  
my subject1 you would have regarded me  
with pity1  for ,i could not help       
pouting a little at this old dean1 and  
felt  myself attacked by a sudden       
cowardice1 at the mere announcement of  
the formidable researches which were to 
be undergone4    ,i took my humble leave
 of my most learned master1 humiliated1 
floored  by the extent of his knowledge1
 his laborious zeal1 his powerful       
faith1 his stubborn will4 ,i saw that in
 giving you my word for a poor  ,glove1 
,i had given it to a demon1 who showed  
me a ,glove of an immense  shagreen     
skin1 containing the world and its      
history--fantastic as a  nightmare1     
which weighed me down4 ,then ,i swore to
 sacrifice a part  for the rest1 and not
 to build a cathedral when a simple     
cushion  at your feet would suffice me  
for my heedless chatter4 ,accept then   
favourably this act of contrition1 and  
let me be fully pardoned1  if1 _/       
propos_/ of the ,glove1 ,i bound along  

madly like a young kid1  without pity   
for the history of costume and historic 
documents1 which  ,i trample under my   
feet1 rather than see myself buried     
under their  pyramidal bundles4    ,that
 which my old friend had probably       
neglected is the ,legend1 and to  that  
,i run4    ,a charming poet and a       
charmer1 ,jean ,godard1 a ,parisian1 the
 worthy  rival of ,ronsard1 published   
towards #aehj a piece entitled _/,the   
,glove_/4 ,this witty nursling of the   
,muses pretends to show us the  origin  
of the ,glove in the burning passion    
which ,venus cherished for  ,adonis4    
,according to our poet--        ,the    
young ,adonis ever loved the field1     
,now hunting the swift stag with        
branching head1      ,and now the tusked
 wild boar1 just cause of dread4        
,venus1 fierce burning with his love    
alway1      ,would never leave him      
neither night nor day1      ,but running
 after his sweet eyes and face1         
,sought young ,adonis1 when he sought   

the chase3      ,deep into forests full 
of gloomy fear1      ,the goddess       
followed him she held so dear4      ,one
 day1 as she pursued him1 bursting      
through      ,a bramble thicket1 which  
by ill chance grew      ,athwart her    
path1 a cruel1 hardy thorn      ,pierced
 her white hand1 and lo6 the rose was   
born      ,from her red blood4 ,but     
,venus1 vexed with pain1      ,lest any 
hurt should touch her hand again1       
,bade all at once her unclad ,graces sew
      ,a leathern shelter for her hand  
of snow4      ,the lovely ,graces1      
draped in floating hair1      ,no longer
 left their own hands free and bare1    
,but bound and covered them as ,venus   
did4      ,and now the ,glove's true    
origin is hid      ,no longer4 ,this is 
it4 ,fair girls alone      ,wore on     
their hands what now is common grown4   
,then came the ,emperor1 and then his   
court1      ,and then at last the folk  
of every sort4    ,charming in its      
_/navet_/1 is it not1 my dear friend1   

this fable  which gives the ,glove the  
same origin as the rose6    ,the use of 
,gloves was widely spread in the ,middle
 ,ages4 ,they covered  the wrist        
entirely1 even with women4 ,the ,gloves 
of the common  people1 says ,m4 ,charles
 ,louandre1 were of sheep-skin1 of doe  
skin1  or of fur2 those of bishops were 
made in chain-stitch of silk with  gold 
thread2 those of simple priests were of 
black leather4 ,but what  will surprise 
you is that1 contrary to the present    
custom1 it was  absolutely forbidden to 
appear gloved before great personages4  
,in a manuscript lately published1      
_/,the ,sayings of the ,merchants_/1 a  
merchant cries1 with an engaging air--  
,i have pretty little bands1        ,and
 for damsels dainty ,gloves1            
,furred to warm their snowy hands1      
,these ,i sell to those sweet loves4    
,but what were the furred ,gloves of    
sweet loves or gentle ladies  compared  
to those which the fair ,venetians      
showed on the grand days  of ceremonies1

 when the ,doge prepared to mount the   
,bucentaur for  the purpose of espousing
 the sea8 ,these1 according to ,m4      
,feuillet  de ,conches1 were ,gloves of 
silk marvellously embroidered1 embossed 
with gold and pearls2 some of them were 
of lace of an incomparable  richness1   
well worthy to be offered as a present1 
and to figure in  the budget of handsome
 acknowledgments4 ,but the most         
wonderful were  the ,gloves of painted  
skin1 like the water-colours on ,fans4  
,here were country scenes1 sheepfolds1  
pictures of ravishing  gallantry1       
miniatures beyond price4 ,and even1     
observes ,m4 ,feuillet  de ,conches1 the
 heels of the shoes of dandies were     
decorated by  ,watteau or by ,parrocel4 
,the ,valois doted1 you know1 on        
perfumed ,gloves2 this taste was fatal  
to ,jeanne d',albret1 who found her     
death in trying a pair of ,gloves       
dexterously prepared by some ,italian   
quack1 a friend of the sombre           
,catherine4 ,consider1 my friend1 that  

with my romantic instinct1 and  my      
temperament full of love for the drama1 
,i might find here an easy  transition1 
and tell you1 in long excited phrases1  
of the exploits of  the ,marchioness of 
,brinvilliers1 and the grim ,gaudin de  
,sainte-,croix2  show you these sinister
 poisoners preparing by night their     
infamous  ,glove stock2 then in a tale  
fantastic as the _/,olivier ,brusson_/  
of  ,hoffmann1 evoke the famous trial of
 the ,marchioness1 the torture1  the    
various punishments1 the burning        
chamber1 up to the final stake4  ,all   
this _/ propos_/ of the ,glove--who can 
say if such simple history  would not be
 worth more than all the cock-and-bull  
stories which ,i  am about to tell you1 
by compulsion1 concerning the ,glove and
 the  ,mittens8 ,in very truth1 ,i would
 prefer1 as your _/vis--vis_/1 to  show 
myself a romancist1 not an historian1   
for ,i should be sure of  being less of 
a bore1 more personal1 and1 above       
all--shall ,i avow  it8--not in any     

degree common-place4 ,but1 as ,miguel de
 ,cervantes  said1 ,our desires are     
extremely seditious servants4 ,i will be
 then  reactionary1 and will close the  
door against these socialists of        
sentiment4    ,all this fine rigmarole  
has made me think of presenting you with
 a  letter of ,antonio ,perez to ,lady  
,rich1 sister of ,lord ,essex1 who had  
asked him for some dogskin ,gloves3--   
,i have experienced1 he writes1 so much 
affliction in not having by  me the     
dogskin ,gloves desired by your         
ladyship1 that1 waiting their  arrival1 
,i have resolved to flay a little skin  
on the most delicate  part of my own    
body--if1 indeed1 any delicate part can 
be found upon  my rude self4 ,love and  
devotion to a lady's service may surely 
make  a man flay himself for her1 and   
cut her a pair of ,gloves out of his    
own skin4 ,but how can ,i pride myself  
on this with your ladyship1 when  it is 
my custom to flay even my very soul for 
those ,i love8 ,could  mine be seen as  

clearly as my body1 it would appear full
 of tatters1  the most lamentable sort  
of soul in the world2--the ,gloves are  
of  dog's skin1 madam1 and yet of my    
own1 for ,i hold myself as a dog1 and   
supplicate your ladyship to hold me in  
like regard1 in requital of my  faith   
and my passion in your service4    ,what
 think you of this out-and-out gallant1 
of this dying  passionate lover8 ,here  
it seems to me1 _/ propos_/ of scented  
,gloves1  we have a ,castilian gentleman
 exceedingly well skilled in the        
delicate art of offering them to ladies4
    ,spanish ,gloves are reproached with
 too strong a smell2 the ,french  ladies
 suffer strangely from their too heady  
odour3 ,antonio ,perez  would certainly 
have been an excellent manufacturer of  
perfumed  ,gloves--discreet in his      
scents1 distinguished in his form4      
,the ,gloves most in vogue after the    
time of ,la ,fronde were the  ,gloves of
 ,rome1 of ,grenoble1 of ,blois1 of     
,esla1 and of ,paris4 ,m4 de            

,chanteloup charged ,poussin to buy him 
,roman ,gloves1 and the latter  wrote   
back on #gth ,october1 #afdf3 ,here are 
a dozen pairs of ,gloves1  half men's1  
half women's4 ,they cost half-a-pistole 
a pair1 which  makes eighteen crowns for
 the whole4 ,the #ahth ,october1 #afdi1 
another  purchase2 but this time they   
are ,gloves scented with ,frangipane1   
with which ,poussin provided himself for
 ,m4 de ,chanteloup2 and  these he      
bought at la ,signora ,maddelena's1 a   
woman famous for her  perfumes4 ,in     
,paris1 according to _/,the ,convenient 
,address ,book_/ of  ,nicolas de        
,blegny--the ,bottin of #afib--there    
were a certain number of  manufacturers 
of perfumed ,gloves in the ,rue de      
l',arbre-,sec and the  ,rue             
,saint-,honor4 ,there are1 says the     
editor of this commercial  almanac1     
,glove-merchants very well stocked2 for 
instance1 ,m4 ,remy1  opposite          
,saint-,mderic1 who is famous for his   
excellent buck-skin  ,gloves2 ,arsan1   

hard by the ,abbey ,saint-,germain2     
,richard1 ,rue  ,saint-,denis1 _/at the 
little ,st4 ,john_/1 well known for his 
,gloves of  _/,fowl-skin_/2 and         
,richard1 ,rue ,galande1 at _/the ,great
 ,king_/1 whose  commerce is in doeskin 
,gloves4    ,the name of fowl-skin      
,glove doubtless astonishes you--another
 name  was outer lamb skin2 they were   
made for the use of ladies during  the  
summer4 ,the pretended fowl-skin was    
nothing but the epidermis of  kid-skin1 
and the preparation of this epidermis   
was the real triumph  of the            
,glove-merchants of ,paris and ,rome4   
,gloves of _/,canepin_/1 or  outer      
lamb's-skin1 were made1 it is said1 so  
delicate and thin1 that  a pair of them 
could be easily enclosed in a walnut    
shell4    ,the buck-skin or buffalo-skin
 ,glove was specially made for          
falconers2  it covered the right hand   
half up the arm1 thus completely        
protecting  it against the claws1 or    
rather the talons1 of the bird1 falcon1 

gerfalcon1 or sparrow-hawk1 when it came
 to settle on their fist4    ,hawking   
existed even under ,louis ,,xiii41 but  
it was no longer the  grand and splendid
 epoch of this aristocratic sport1 so   
profoundly  interesting4 ,in one of his 
ancient legends1 ,andr le ,chapelain1   
of whom ,stendhal wrote a short         
biographical notice1 speaks of a        
sparrow-hawk1 to gain which the magic   
,glove was necessary4 ,this ,glove      
could only be obtained by a victory in  
the lists over two of the most          
formidable champions of ,christendom4   
,it was suspended to a golden  column1  
and very carefully guarded4 ,but when   
the knight had by his  skill gained the 
,glove1 he saw the beautiful            
sparrow-hawk so much  desired swoop down
 immediately upon his fist4    ,up to   
the age of ,louis ,,xiv41 the skin      
,glove was destined rather  for the use 
of men1 and it was only under this      
,prince that ,gloves  mounting a long   
way up the arm1 and long ,mittens of    

silk netting to  set off the hands of   
women1 were generally adopted by them4  
,gloves _/ l'occasion_/1 _/ la          
,cadenet_/1 _/ la ,phyllis_/1 _/ la     
,frangipane_/1 _/ la ,nroli_/1 ,gloves  
_/of the last cut_/ worn awhile by  the 
_/,prcieuses_/1 ceased to be fashionable
 about #afhj4 ,the custom1 of  which    
,tallemant speaks1 of presenting ladies1
 after the banquet1 with  basins of     
,spanish ,gloves1 was only vulgarised in
 passing from the  ,court to the town4  
,dangeau1 in his _/,memoirs_/1 has      
written a chapter on the _/,etiquette   
of ,gloves and the ,ceremonial of       
,mittens_/4 ,i refer you to it without  
ceremony4    ,under ,louis ,,xv41 in the
 eighteenth century1 so full of the     
rustle  of silk1 so enchanting that ,i  
fear to stop on it in your company1     
lest ,i should never leave it1 the      
wearing of ,gloves quickly became  an   
enormous luxury4 ,all those fair        
coquettes1 whom you have seen  at their 
toilets1 or their _/petit lever_/1 after

 ,nattier1 ,pater1 or  ,moreau1         
surrounded by their _/filles de modes_/1
 caused a greater  massacre of ,gloves  
at the time of trying them on1 than our 
richest  worldlings of to-day4 ,these   
,gloves were of kid1 of thread1 and  of 
silk2 the most celebrated came from     
,vendme1 from ,blois1 from  ,grenoble1  
and from ,paris2 they were generally    
made of white skin1  wretchedly sewn1   
but the cut was extremely graceful1 with
 its cuff  falling from the wrist over  
the hand1 and small ribbons and fine    
rosettes of carnation interlaced on this
 cuff4    ,gloves sewn after the        
,english fashion were highly            
appreciated4 ,it  became a proverb1 that
 for a ,glove to be good1 three realms  
must have  contributed to it3 ,spain to 
prepare the skin and make it supple1    
,france to cut it1 and ,england to sew  
it4    ,caraccioli maintains that a     
woman of fashion1 about the middle of   
the  eighteenth century1 would not      
dispense with changing her ,gloves four 

or five times a day4 ,the               
_/petits-matres_/1 he adds1 never fail  
to  put on1 in the morning1 ,gloves of  
rose or _/jonquil_/1 perfumed by the    
celebrated ,dulac4 ,as to ,mittens1 the 
same observer of the century  notices   
them as specially belonging to women4   
,nevertheless1 he  says1 in winter the  
manufacturers make furred ,mittens1 and 
men now  wear them when they travel4    
,madame de ,genlis has this curious     
observation in her _/,dictionary of     
,etiquette_/3 ,if you have anything to  
present to a princess1 and have  your   
,glove on1 you must needs take it off4  
,how many anecdotes1 how many literary  
souvenirs1 the ,glove of the  eighteenth
 century summons to the thought6    ,you
 remember1 ,i am quite sure1 that pretty
 chapter consecrated by  ,sterne1 in his
 _/,sentimental ,journey_/1 to the      
beautiful ,grisette who  sold ,gloves1  
into whose shop he entered to ask his   
way4 ,the pretty  ,glove-seller coquets 
with the stranger1 shows herself        

extremely  complaisant1 and the         
sentimental traveller1 to prove his     
gratitude  for her kindness1 asks for   
some ,gloves1 and tries on several pairs
  without finding one to suit him4 ,but 
he takes two or three pairs all  the    
same before he goes4    ,the story      
leaves a fresh feature in the mind3 an  
,english artist has  fixed it with much 
delicacy on a remarkable canvas1 which  
figures in  the ,national ,gallery4 ,the
 authors of the _/,vie ,parisienne_/    
were surely  inspired by it a little    
later in their joyous libretto1 when    
they  wrote the well-known couplets of  
the lady who sold ,gloves and the       
,brazilian4    ,permit me also to relate
 to you an anecdote1 rather slight in   
texture1 of which ,duclos is the hero1  
and which has all the flavour  of his   
roguish age3--    ,the author of        
_/,manners_/ was bathing on the flowery 
borders of the  ,seine1 and giving      
himself up to skilled                   
_/hand-over-hand_/1 when  he suddenly   

heard piercing cries of distress4 ,he   
rushes out of  the water1 runs up the   
bank without taking time to slip on his 
indispensables1 and finds a young and   
charming woman1 whose  carriage had just
 been overturned in a rut4 ,he hastens  
to beauty  in tears1 lying on the       
ground1 and making a gracious bow1 in   
his  academic nudity1 ,madam1 says he1  
in offering her his hand to assist  her 
to rise1 pardon my want of ,gloves4     
,here we have at once the expression of 
a scoffing sceptic1 and a  giddy        
philosopher1 full of a particular charm4
 ,do not believe1 my  gentle friend1    
that if ,i remain in your company so    
short a time in  the beginning of the   
eighteenth century--the only one which  
has1  you cannot deny it1 all its       
perfumed quintessence--do not believe   
that ,i intend to linger in the         
,revolution1 and conduct you to the     
house of ,mademoiselle ,lange1 ,madame  
,talien1 ,madame ,rcamier1 and all  the 
fashionable drawing-rooms of the ,first 

,republic1 the ,directory1  the         
,consulate1 and the ,empire2 to take    
ceremoniously the hand of  the          
marvellous ,beauties1 the ,nymphs1 and  
,muses of those troubled  times1 in     
order the better to show you what       
extravagant ,gloves1 what  prodigious   
,mittens1 were then worn4 ,the          
_/,ladies' ,journal_/1 and all  the     
small journals of fashion1 will surely  
teach you more about the  ,gloves worn  
by these worldly ,calypsos and          
,eucharises than six hundred  monotonous
 pages of varied descriptions4 ,there is
 no ,museum1 however1  preserving the   
objects of art which the ,revolution    
marked deeply with  its seal2 and this  
fact will make me insist on a model of a
 special  ,glove1 destined for a        
representative of the people despatched 
to the  army1 of which an erudite       
archologist of the ,revolution1 and at  
the  same time a remarkable humourist1  
,champfleury1 has been good enough  to  
communicate to me a design4 ,this ,glove

 of doe-skin1 manufactured  according to
 order1 and broidered with arabesques   
about the slopings  of the thumb1 bears 
on the back of the hand a vignette in   
the form  of a seal1 which represents   
,liberty holding in her hand the pike1  
the ,phrygian cap1 and the scales of    
justice--a ,liberty1 you will  say1 by  
no means at liberty 4 4 4 4 in her      
movements3--on the right  is crouched a 
lion1 the sign of force2 on the left a  
cat1 a sign of  independence4    ,i will
 not lose my time in paraphrasing for   
you this symbolic  vignette2 and1 with a
 long historic stride1 ,i will conduct  
you  into the quietude of some chateau1 
under the ,restoration1 and1 in  the    
evening twilight1 to the terrace before 
a great park4 ,i will  there show you   
two lovers warbling a serenade--the     
timid young girl  touching a guitar1 the
 young man deeply moved1 putting a world
 of  passion into his baritone voice4   
,on the hands of the singer1 behold1    
pearly grey gloves fastening with a     

single button2 on the dainty  little    
fingers supporting the guitar1 examine  
those ,mittens of black  silk lace1 open
 worked1 like those which1 according to 
tradition1 are  worn by the heroine of  
that charming comedy1 the               
_/,marriageable ,maid_/4    ,there rises
 on my lips a song of the time which the
 _/,almanac of  the ,muses_/ has        
bequeathed us1 to the air of _/,the     
,little ,sailor_/4 ,it  will perhaps add
 a spice of interest to my story4 ,now1 
listen1 my  friend1 as they used to say 
in the noble ages of chivalry4 ,title of
  the song3 _/,the ,gloves_/4        ,i 
love the ,glove1 that covers quite      
,the rounded arm it rests upon2      ,i 
take it off1 with what delight1         
,with what delight ,i put it on6        
,if true it is through mystery1         
,a lover's bliss will higher move1      
,how dear that little hand should be    
,which hides itself beneath a ,glove6   
,but there's another ,glove1 whose use  
,will every swaggerer displease2      ,a

 ,glove correcting all abuse1           
,which brings the braggart to his knees2
      ,how many boasting folk ,i've     
known1        ,who would1 and wisely1   
rather prove      ,a flight from out the
 window thrown1        ,than see before 
them that same ,glove6        ,the      
,gloves are useful when we seek         
,the fair1 the great ones1 as we know2  
,when unto those with ,gloves we speak1 
,easy at once their favours grow4       
,they for intriguers wealth have won1   
,no fools their uses are above2      ,of
 what another man has done        ,they 
boast1 and give themselves the ,glove4  
,one last couplet1 ,i pray you1 and the 
authoress1 ,madame ,perrier1 will  bow  
herself out3--        ,the ,gloveless   
man can ne'er afford        ,to dance1  
no step he makes with grace2      ,the  
servant wishes that his lord            
,should put on ,gloves in many a case4  
,when the police are wide awake1        
,to cheat those eyes they hardly love1  
,how many thieves will wisely take      

,the greatest care to wear the ,glove8  
,the song is not so bad1 truly2 and if  
the ,muse gloves the author a  little   
tightly1 the tone of his strophes is    
none the less strictly  respectable and 
proper4    ,under ,louis ,,xviii4 and   
,charles ,x4 long ,gloves were very     
costly2  still1 no coquette hesitated to
 change them every day1 for it was      
necessary for them to be of extreme     
freshness of colour1 which was  either  
buff1 gridelin1 or white4 ,some years   
later1 the fashion  tended to maize1    
straw1 or nut colour for the evening and
 morning  toilet1 and to palisander1    
burnt bread1 cedar1 fawn1 for afternoon 
visits4 ,yellow ,gloves had an infinite 
scale of tones1 from a soft  and        
delicate unbleached lawn colour to the  
glaring yellow of a  stage-coach4 ,white
 doe-skin was only used by men when     
riding4    ,it was about this epoch1 if 
,i mistake not1 that the denunciation of
  _/,gant jaune_/ 7yellow glove7 became 
synonymous with _/petit-matre_/         

7dandy74 ,in ,london1 the disciples of  
,brummel--of the most refined           
elegance--constituted a society1 and    
formed the ,club of the _/,fringed      
,glove_/4 ,this club no longer existed  
doubtless in #ahci1 when d',orsay       
established thus despotically the rules 
of the perfect gentleman3    ,an        
,english gentleman of fashion1 said he1 
ought to use six pair of  ,gloves a day3
    ,in the morning to drive a britzska 
to the hunt3 ,gloves of reindeer4    ,at
 the hunt1 to follow a fox3 ,gloves of  
shammy leather4    ,to return to ,london
 in a ,tilbury1 after a drive at        
,richmond in the  morning3 ,gloves of   
beaver4    ,to go later for a walk in   
,hyde ,park1 or to conduct a lady to pay
 her  visits or make her purchases in   
,london1 and _/to offer her your hand   
in descending from the carriage_/3      
coloured kid ,gloves braided4    ,to go 
to a dinner-party3 yellow dog's skin    
,gloves--and in the  evening for a ball 
or rout3 ,gloves of white lamb-skin     

embroidered  with silk4      ,what      
odious tyranny is so exacting a fashion6
 ,and how sensible was  ,balzac when he 
wrote3 ,dandyism is a heresy of fashion2
 in making  himself a dandy1 a man      
becomes a piece of furniture of the     
boudoir1  an extremely ingenious puppet1
 which can pose on a horse1 or on  a    
sofa1 which sucks habitually the end of 
a walking-stick1 but a  reasonable      
being--never6    ,it is1 however1 with  
some dandy of the school of ,rubempr and
  ,rastignac1 that often1 on quitting   
the ball1 an author shows us a  romantic
 young lady in love1 whose jealousy     
gnaws at her heart1 who  re-reads the   
letters of old times1 and with wandering
 looks1 like  one overwhelmed1 nervously
 tearing with her teeth a finger of her 
,glove1 sadly dreams that the lover who 
is no longer all1 is nothing1  and that 
the moralist much deceived himself who  
wrote3 ,woman is a  charming creature1  
who puts off her love as easily as her  
,glove4    ,how many things are there1  

look you1 in a ,glove6    ,in the novel 
_/,the ,lion in ,love_/ of ,frdric      
,souli1 ,lonce signs the  register of   
marriages at the mayoralty with a gloved
 hand2 and when  ,lise's turn comes1 the
 young girl stops1 saying in a voice    
tinged  with just a touch of mockery1   
,pardon me1 let me remove my ,glove4    
,lonce understood1 then says the author1
 that he had signed  with his gloved    
hand4 ,sign an act of marriage with a   
,glove6  ,lonce meditated a little1 and 
said to himself3 ,these people have     
certain delicacies4 ,what difference    
makes a ,glove more or less to  the     
holiness of an oath1 or the signature of
 a document8 ,nothing  assuredly2 and   
yet it seems that there is more         
sincerity in a naked  hand1 which       
affixes the signature of a man in       
testimony of the truth4  ,it is one of  
those imperceptible sentiments of which 
we are unable to  give an exact account1
 but which nevertheless exist4    ,the  
fact is1 that the ,glove is not really1 

as has been said1 a  tyrant of which the
 hand is the slave1 but quite the       
contrary--it  is the hand's servant2 and
 with the hand1 as ,montaigne wrote1 ,we
  request1 promise1 call1 dismiss1      
menace1 pray1 supplicate1 deny1  refuse1
 interrogate1 admire1 number1 confess1  
repent1 fear1 shame1  double1 instruct1 
command1 incite1 encourage1 swear1      
witness1 accuse1  condemn1 absolve1     
injure1 contemn1 distrust1 track1       
flatter1 applaud1  bless1 humiliate1    
mock1 reconcile1 recommend1 exalt1      
feast1 rejoice1  complain1 sadden1      
discomfort1 despair1 astonish1 write1   
suppress1 c4    ,i stop out of breath3  
verbs of every kind may pass into the   
list4    ,with the ,egyptians1 the hand 
was a symbol of force2 with the ,romans1
  a symbol of fidelity4 ,we please      
ourselves in clothing the occult        
powers1 such as ,time1 ,nature1         
,destiny1 with a human hand3 the hand   
of ,time overthrows empires1 and        
impresses wrinkles on our brows2 the    

hand of ,nature is prodigal to us of    
gifts1 which are ravished from us  by   
the hand of ,death2 the hand of ,destiny
 or of ,providence1 in fine1  conducts  
us across the paths of life4    ,old    
stereotyped language1 which we use1 and 
shall use always4 ,are  we not1 as      
,saint ,evremond said1 in the hands of  
love1 as the balls  in the hands of     
tennis-players--and the first happiness 
which love  can give1 is it not1        
according to ,stendhal--and all the     
truly  sensitive--the first pressure of 
the hand of the woman we love8    ,our  
ancestors swore by the hand1 and read in
 the hand the mysteries  of the future4 
,on the day of coronation1 the hand of  
justice was  borne before the kings2 the
 hand is used in salutation2 we ask for 
the _/hand_/ of the lady we wish to     
espouse in lawful marriage2 we  wash our
 hands1 like ,pontius ,pilate1 of faults
 which we could not  help committing2   
and if ,i were to have to make for you  
the panegyric  of this organ1 ,i should 

have1 like ,scheherazade1 to put off the
 end  of my discourse every day till the
 morrow4 ,sir ,charles ,bell1 in  his   
book1 _/,the ,hand3 ,its ,mechanism1    
etc4_/1 has given a synthesis  of all ,i
 could possibly add1 and has proved that
 the human hand is  so admirably formed1
 possesses a sensibility so exquisite1  
that  sensibility governs with so much  
precision all its movements1 it  answers
 so instantaneously to the impulses of  
the will1 that one  might be tempted to 
believe that it is itself its seat4 ,all
 its  actions are so energetic1 so free1
 and withal so delicate1 that it        
appears to have an instinct apart2 and  
neither its complication as  an         
instrument is ever dreamt of1 nor the   
relations which subject it  to the mind4
 ,we avail ourselves of the service of  
the hand1 as we  perform the act of     
respiration1 without thinking of it2 and
 we have  lost all remembrance of its   
first feeble efforts1 as of the slow    
exercise which has brought it to        

perfection4    ,the hand1 in a word1 is 
the most perfect instrument given by    
,god to  man2 but ,i ought not to       
forget1 my fair friend1 that poets      
seldom  wear gloves1 and philosophers   
never2 and that1 philosophising as ,i   
am1 ,i remain outside the ,glove1 and1  
above all1 appear to forget that  axiom 
of ,fontenelle3 ,had we our hand full of
 authenticated facts or  truths1 we     
should but half open it1 and that after 
a feeble fashion4    ,the ,glove is     
worthy of entering into the legend of a 
fairy tale1 and  remaining there always1
 as the slipper has entered into the    
poetry  even of fable1 with the theme of
 _/,cinderella_/4 ,an ancient ,king of  
,france was indeed in love all his life 
with an unknown woman1 only  from having
 seen her ,glove in the midst of a      
masked ball given  to his court4 ,could 
it not easily be conceived according to 
the  approximative aphorism1 ,show me   
your ,glove1 ,i will tell you who you   
are4 ,at the opera ball1 in the surge of

 masks and of dominoes1 in  the midst of
 the comings and goings on that         
staircase so exalted1  it needs but a   
,glove imprisoning a little hand to     
allure at once  the passion of a man of 
delicacy--a long white ,glove lovingly  
glued  to a hand divinely small1 a fine 
delicate wrist1 and the exquisite       
roundness of the forearm4 ,this is      
enough to transport a lover of the  fair
 sex4 ,the ,glove appears not only in   
all festivals where grace and  beauty   
preside2 it is found in all the rudeness
 and clumsiness of its  origin at the   
,poles1 among the ,norwegians1 the      
,laps1 and the ,fins1  who wear huge    
,gloves of wool in summer1 and thick    
,gloves of reindeer  skin1 with the hair
 outside1 in winter4    ,defended by    
these ,gloves1 they sometimes sally     
bravely from their  huts1 in spite of   
the cruel frosts1 to kill the white bear
 and the  seal1 just as the dramatic    
engravings which illustrate our stories 
of  voyages to the ,north ,pole         

represent them to us4    ,but methinks  
your eye is asking me in disquietude    
about two little  bound books which ,i  
have in my reach4 ,reassure yourself1   
these are  not recitals of tourists1    
which are for painting us the manners of
  the inhabitants of ,karasjok or of the
 ,lofoten ,isles3 ,i will read  to you  
at once1 without allowing you to        
languish any longer1 their  titles4     
,upon one of these works1 see for       
yourself _/,collection of the  ,best    
,riddles of the ,time_/1 composed on    
divers serious and sprightly  subjects  
by ,colletet2 on the other1             
_/,collection of ,riddles of the        
,time_/1 by the ,abb ,cotin4 ,you       
already divine that ,i intend to act no 
traitor's part towards you1 and that ,i 
am going to read you some old  charades 
in verse upon ,gloves3    ,the first    
riddle--_/nigme_/ has been masculine in 
,french at least  since the seventeenth 
century1 in despite of its profound     
femininity--the first riddle1 in obscure

 and ambiguous terms1  indicates that   
the ,glove1 after having been the       
natural covering of a  rustic animal1   
serves to-day as an artificial covering 
for an animal  more refined3 man6       
,we're two or ten1 and to a body wed1   
,we once a thing of breathing life were 
over2      ,like it we lived1 and now1  
although we're dead1        ,another    
life more excellent we cover4    ,this  
quatrain riddle is by ,franois          
,colletet1 that poor poet up to  his    
neck in mud4 ,listen now to ,cotin--the 
,trissotin of ,molire--in  this singular
 sextain3--        ,with mortal flesh   
our five soft mouths we fill1      ,and 
in the winter to repletion feed2        
,if one of us be lost1 the world's      
agreed      ,to treat the rest of us    
exceeding ill2      ,but if we all      
remain together1 then      ,we do almost
 all that is done by men4    ,mediocre1 
isn't it2 tortured1 bombastic1 gross1   
all at once8 ,there is  nothing here to 
make us fall into an ecstasy1 and repeat

 to satiety1  as some highly refined    
courtiers used to do1 ,ah1 with what    
congruity  of terms are these thoughts  
expressed6    ,i shall abandon the      
riddles at once4 ,these two specimens   
are enough4  ,another point3    ,many   
physiologists affirm that great warriors
 have been remarkable  for a beautiful  
hand1 which they loved perhaps to adorn 
with the most  delicate gloves4 ,they   
instance ,cyrus1 ,alexander1 ,csar1     
,charlemagne1  and ,napoleon4           
,according to an historian of the ,first
 ,empire1 some generals  attending      
,bonaparte one day in his private room1 
found his big  military ,gloves and his 
little hat on a side-table4 ,actuated by
  curiosity1 each one of them tried in  
turn the ,glove and the hat2 but  it    
appears there was not a single hand     
which could force its entrance  into    
those big ,gloves1 and upon those       
giants' shoulders not a single  head    
which could fill up the little hat4     
,napoleon was1 it is weil known1 no less

 proud of his hand than ,byron1  who1   
his biographer tells us1 had a hand so  
small1 that it was out of  all          
proportion with his face4 ,byron thought
 and wrote that nothing  characterised  
birth more than the hand2 it was1       
according to him1  almost the sole index
 of aristocracy of blood4    ,since the 
fifteenth century1 we can trace in the  
museums of ,france1  ,holland1 ,italy1  
,spain1 and ,germany1 the interest which
 painters of  all schools have taken in 
the study of the hand1 and1 indeed1 of  
the ,glove4 ,van ,dyck and ,rubens were 
passed masters in this art1 and  ,titian
 has left an admirable masterpiece in   
his _/,young ,man with  the ,glove_/4   
,velasquez almost always makes his      
powerful models hold  ,gloves1 nobly    
folded in their right hand4 ,in         
,venetian paintings we  see the ,glove  
on the hands of the ,doge1 of his wife1 
of ambassadors1  of senators1 of        
residents1 and even of merchants4 ,the  
mere study  of the ,gloves in these     

portraits and these costumes would      
suffice  for a long pamphlet1 for we    
must consider the ,glove in all classes 
of society and in all epochs1 from the  
embroidered ,gloves of the  ,doges to   
the special ,gloves of the merchants1 of
 the rectors of the  university of      
,padua1 and even of the monks of the    
brotherhood of the  ,cross1 which were  
violet on a white ground1 c4    ,but it 
would be madness to endeavour to omit   
nothing in this  monograph of the       
,glove1 a tentative work1 and an        
unpremeditated  sketch of little        
pretension4    ,have we not still to    
consider the stuffed fencing ,glove1    
with the  short shield of red leather1  
and the giant ,glove which swells the   
fist of the boxers8--the ordinance      
,glove of the good ,dumanet2 that  white
 cotton ,glove which the brave trooper  
puts on so willingly on  ,sunday1 coming
 out of barracks like a conquering hero8
 ,is there  not besides the ,glove of   
the ,cuirassier1 with its large shield  

of  buckskin1 which this last man of    
iron places so gallantly on his hip     
when he is on express service8    ,the  
history of ,gauntlets and of military   
,gloves from the time of the  ,middle   
,ages would make a mighty volume1 like  
the ladies' ,glove and  the             
work-people's ,mitten4 ,the liturgical  
,glove1 yet more important1  is of three
 kinds3 the _/pontifical ,glove_/1 which
 was worn by bishops  and abbs2 the     
,glove which simple priests had adopted 
for particular  occasions2 and lastly1  
the _/prelatic_/ _/,glove_/4 ,on        
_/pontifical  ,gloves_/ alone           
,monseigneur ,x4 ,barbier de ,montault  
has found means  to write in the        
_/,bulletin ,monumental_/1 #ahgf-ahgg1  
nearly two  hundred pages of closely    
packed text1 in #hvo3 _/,ab uno disce   
omnes_/4  ,see1 my amiable friend1 ,i   
repeat it--see in what an inextricable  
archological labyrinth ,i might have set
 you to wander1 _/ propos_/  of all     
these dear little ,gloves1 of which ,i  

had promised you a  history1 but about  
which it appears to me ,i am making only
 a lively  chatter of whipped ,glove4 ,i
 should not have set on the table aught 
beyond that which lends grace to woman3 
,gloves on a champagne glass  or in a   
shepherdess's hat1 roses and a          
love-letter half opened2 such  simple   
still life had assuredly better inspired
 my ,muse than all the  documents       
brought together and packed one on      
another1 well calculated  to frighten a 
mind which is by no means pleased with  
such barricades  of notes and           
annotations4 ,ah1 my fair friend1 how   
right was ,balzac1  in his brilliant and
 profound _/,trait de la vie lgante_/1  
when he  wrote the following lines1     
which ,i had not sufficiently considered
  before pledging my word in your       
society6    ,the learned man1 or the    
elegant man of the world1 who would     
search  out in every epoch the costumes 
of a people1 would compile the most     
interesting history and the most        

rationally true4 4 4 4 4 ,to ask  the   
origin of shoes1 of alms-purses1 of     
hoods1 of the cockade1 of               
hoop-petticoats1 of farthingales1 of    
_/,gloves_/1 of masks1 is to drag  a    
_/modilogist_/ into the frightful maze  
of sumptuary laws1 and upon  all the    
battlefields1 where civilisation has    
triumphed over the gross  manners       
imported into ,europe by the barbarism  
of the ,middle ,ages4    ,things futile 
in appearance1 continues the author of  
the _/,thorie  de la dmarche_/1         
represent either ideas or               
interests--whether  it be bust1 or foot1
 or head--he might have said1 above all1
 or  hand--you will ever see a social   
progress1 a retrograde system1 or  some 
desperate struggle formulating itself by
 the assistance of some  part or other  
of the dress4 ,now the shoe announces a 
privilege1 now  the hat signals a       
revolution--a piece of embroidery1 a    
scarf1 or some  ornament of straw1 is   
the sign of a party4 ,why should the    

toilet be  then always the most eloquent
 of styles1 if it was not really the    
whole man1 the man with his political   
opinions1 the man with the  text of his 
existence1 the hieroglyphic man8 ,to-day
 _/,vestignomy_/ has  become almost a   
branch of the art created by ,gall and  
,lavater4    ,i am overwhelmed1 ,o my   
indulgent friend6 ,i feel that ,i have  
been far  inferior to my task1 and ,i   
fear ,i have not had that charming art  
of  saying nothing which often says so  
many things4 ,i have neglected to  show 
you the ,glove in princely              
_/,inventaires_/1 in the old chronicles1
  and in the delightful tales of        
,boccaccio1 of the ,queen of ,navarre1  
of  ,straparole1 of ,bonaventure        
,desperriers1 and even in ,brantme1 who 
has  written a little story1 full of old
 ,french _/esprit_/1 on a ,glove found  
in the bed of a fashionable lady4 ,i had
 a good opportunity of showing  you the 
anecdotic ,glove of ever so many        
romances and memoirs from _/,le  ,petit 

,jehan de ,saintre_/ up to ,casanova the
 ,venetian1 going through  _/l'         
,histoire amoureuse des ,gaules_/4      
,but the natural and the unpremeditated 
is also a ,french quality1  of which we 
must sometimes allow the grace1 even in 
recognising  its defects4 ,i left the   
history of the ,glove1 ,i believe1 in   
#ahdj2  and ,i do not suppose that ,i   
have painted for you all the little     
cuffs1 festoons1 ruches1 notchings1     
indentations1 which adorned the         
fastenings of the town ,gloves of our   
elegant ladies1 nor the long  black     
mittens which accompanied the blonde    
bodices1 of which in those  modest times
 people were madly fond4 ,it is of      
little consequence for  me to follow the
 fashions from #ahdj to the present day3
 one cannot  be a woman and remain      
ignorant of these different variations  
of a  fashion of which all the specimens
 return periodically to reconquer  a    
second of celebrity4 ,open-worked       
,gloves of ,chinese silk1 ,spanish      

,gloves1 ,beaver ,gloves1 ,swedish      
,gloves1 glac kid ,gloves1 musketeers'  
,gloves1 ,colombine1 with cuffs--what do
 ,i say8--the qualifications are        
innumerable2 they change still more than
 the fashion1 for the epithet  gives a  
springtide and deceives the             
customer--_/a fortiori_/ would  it      
deceive the _/,gantuographer_/1 if you  
will allow me this hideous  neologism4  
,that which ,i have not been able to    
accomplish1 that which you have  not    
demanded of me1 that which nevertheless 
would have interested you  far more than
 this sleepy talk1 is the _/,physiology 
of the ,glove_/1  with this epigraph    
taken from an anonymous but witty       
author--,the  style is the man2 the     
,glove is the woman2 the style sometimes
  deceives1 but the ,glove never4    ,i 
am launched1 don't you see1 into        
theories historic1 philosophic1  and1   
above all1 physiognomic1 in a study     
altogether beside the mark8    ,allow1  
my sweet and somnolent one1 that if you 

had permitted me at  first to take this 
part 7which for my slight notice was    
assuredly  better71 ,i should have been 
less clumsily stiff1 less dull above    
all1  less pretentious besides2 albeit  
,i make no other pretension here than   
to do your pleasure4 ,you have thrown me
 the ,glove on the confines of  history2
 it is thence that ,i have raised it    
with more effeminancy  than swagger4    
,i could have wished that fancy might   
have dictated to history2 but1  in the  
present case1 it is the most that has   
been done1 if history  has succeeded in 
warming the amiable fancy1 which has not
 taken  ,gloves to make us villainously 
sulky with each other4                  
,pardon6--indulgent interlocutress6     
,excuse also1 amiable lady readers1 ye  
who read this congealed babble1  and who
 have yet less reason to be favourable  
to me1 in this sense1  that to you all1 
alas6 ,i cannot say1 as was once said in
 the polite  world--_/,friendship allows
 the ,glove4_/          ,,the ,,muff    

_/,,the ,,fur4_/      ,the ,muff6 ,the  
very name has something about it        
delicate1 downy1 and  voluptuous4 ,from 
that little warm satin nest1 where      
pretty chilly  little hands ensconce    
themselves in silk1 carrying with them a
 lace  handkerchief1 a box of lozenges1 
a bouquet of ,parma violets1 or a       
tender loving _/billet-doux_/1 a        
thousand trifles spring up to please    
us1 like a swarm of souvenirs and       
caressing thoughts of our first  years  
passed at home1 and of our first roving 
loves4    ,in childhood1 we delight to  
play with the large maternal ,muff1 to  
pass our hands over it the wrong way to 
excite the electricity of  the long     
hair1 to plunge our faces in the pungent
 heady odour of its  down1 and to make  
use of this furred sack in inconceivable
 tricks1 in  playing at hide-and-seek   
with small objects1 or in burying       
therein  the familiar cat1 who becomes  
lazy in its warmth4    ,then1 later on1 
at the hour of the first rendezvous1    

during one of  those icy winters which  
,ronsard dreaded for his darling1 when  
we see  our so much desired mistress    
appear veiled and all imprisoned in     
furs1 we become almost jealous of the   
pretty and coquettish ,muff1 in  which  
she buries her roguish little nose1     
which the glacial breeze  has lashed and
 reddened1 and we plunge then with a    
sweet brutality  our own hands into the 
silky cylinder1 there to find1 and there
  passionately to press the pretty idle 
fingers1 which we are for so  generously
 thawing1 by covering them with long    
kisses like gloves4    ,when the ,muff  
returns from exile with the first hoar  
frosts of  ,november1 it causes1 as soon
 as it appears on the boulevards1 a     
sensation1 intimate and delicious1 to   
all true _/feminists_/1 to the          
,dilettanti of woman--to all those who  
perceive in their most delicate  shades 
the graces of which a naive or          
coquettish woman can avail  herself1    
whether in handling the ,fan or the     

,sunshade1 or in tucking  up a corner of
 a spring petticoat1 or in passing along
 radiant in  a long furry pelisse1 or   
more passive in letting herself glide   
languishingly in a sledge over the ice  
of the lake1 making eyes at  her darling
 who skates by her side1 and pushes     
forward her coquettish  equipage4 ,it   
seems that woman1 that exquisite and    
delicate flower1  blossoms in fur1 as   
those white gardenias of the            
conservatory which  half open and       
develop themselves in a nest of perfumed
 wadding4    ,the more she hides1       
muffles up1 deadens1 so to speak1 her   
beauty1 the  more woman--a creature of  
,hades who makes us dream of            
paradise--is  bewitching in the         
diabolicity of her graces4 ,when ,love1 
who is  represented blind1 sets a mask  
on ,venus-coquette1 one might think the 
trickster boy was for burning the       
universe1 for behind those yawning      
apertures of the black velvet mask1     
behind those murderous loopholes1  two  

woman's eyes are lying in ambush1       
pitiless1 turn by turn  laughing1       
burning1 blazing1 drowned in pleasure1  
charged1 in a word1  as with grape-shot1
 with all the shafts of the ,cupidonian 
quiver4    ,thus1 out of the midst of   
furs1 woman1 that mignonette plant1 that
  _/mimosa pudica_/1 throws off beauty  
more mysterious1 more warm1 more  full  
of promise1 more enveloped and more     
enveloping1 as if from the  electricity 
of that peltry1 there was spread in the 
ambient air of  the provoking daughter  
of ,eve an attractive sensuality1 like a
 subtle  caress1 which rustles against  
our senses in its passage4    ,the      
ancients had perhaps great reason to    
attach1 as they did1 certain            
excellences and prerogatives to fur3 a  
master furrier1 ,charrier1  wrote on    
this subject1 in #afcd1 remarks and     
moral considerations as  nave as        
curious3 ,our kings1 whether they are   
consecrated1 crowned1  or married1      
divest themselves of the splendour of   

embroideries and  of diamonds1 to take  
their royal mantle hedged about with    
lilies and  lined with ermine4    ,the  
mantles of the chevaliers1 dukes1 and   
peers of ,france are lined  with lynx1  
marten1 and ermine2 the chancellors1    
keepers of the seals1  who are the      
guardians of our laws1 wear the most    
exquisite furs4    ,bachelors and       
doctors1 emperors and physicians clothe 
themselves  with furs which represent   
the mysteries of theology1 the maxims of
  politics1 the secrets of medicine4    
,furs cure people of headaches and      
disordered stomachs2 attacks of gout    
which triumph over the most  potent     
remedies1 are vanquished by the skins of
 cats1 lambs1 and  hares4    ,in fine1  
the good ,charrier proves with pride    
that of all the  ornaments which luxury 
has invented there is none so glorious1 
so  august1 so precious1 as furs1 and   
that the privileges of peltry  merchants
 rightly surpass those of all others4   
,the masters and wardens of the peltry  

merchandise had for their arms  a       
paschal lamb on an azure field4 ,two    
ermines supported the shield  crested   
with the ducal crown1 with this device  
in exergue--very like  that of          
,brittany--_/,malo mori quam fdari_/4   
,the use of furs dates back to the      
origin of the world4 ,plutarch1 in  his 
_/,table ,talk_/1 relates that people   
dressed themselves in skins  before they
 became acquainted with stuffs4 ,tacitus
 assures us it was  the same with the   
,teutons1 ,propertius with the ,romans4 
,robed in rich silk1 the ,court you now 
behold      ,was once a folk fur-clad   
against the cold1    says a poet of the 
sixteenth century4 ,but without stopping
 at the  conquest of the ,golden        
,fleece1 at ,rebekah ordering ,jacob to 
put on  his hands and neck kids' skins1 
at all the examples of the ,bible and   
of history1 we will only remark that the
 four noble furs consecrated  by        
feudality were the ermine1 the vair1 the
 sable1 and the miniver4  ,the colours  

of furs admitted into coats of arms were
 those of the  sable1 the ermine1 and   
the vair4    ,charlemagne1 who loved1   
they say1 simplicity in his apparel1    
had1  according to ,eginhard1 the habit 
of wearing in summer a mantle of        
otter's skin2 but in winter he covered  
himself with a mantle of which  the     
sleeves were lined with vair and foxes' 
fur4 ,this is corroborated  by the four 
following verses of ,philippe ,mousnes1 
the poet biographer  of this ,emperor3--
        ,but in the days of fallen      
leaves1      ,he wore a new surcoat with
 sleeves      ,of furs of foxes and of  
vair      ,to shield him from the       
nipping air4    ,at the epoch of the    
,crusades1 the luxury of furs was       
carried to the  highest degree in       
,western ,europe2 but to remain         
absolutely fixed to  the ,muff1 we must 
register the first apparition of this   
little fur  about the end of the        
sixteenth century4 ,in the inventory of 
goods  left by the widow of the         

,president ,nicolai we read3 ,item1 a   
,muff of  velvet lined with marten4     
,in ,venice1 however1 we have in our    
researches found a vestige of the  ,muff
 at the end of the fifteenth century2   
celebrated courtezans and  noble ladies 
at that time carried ,muffs1 which      
served for niches to  minuscular dogs2  
and an engraving represents a scene of  
an interior1  in which a fair ,venetian 
seems to be showing her lover the       
infinite  games of her lap-dogs in her  
,muff4    ,there were at that time in   
,venice delicious ,muffs made after the 
primitive fashion of a single band of   
velvet1 brocade1 or silk1 lined  with   
fine fur1 rounded in a cylinder1 of     
which the extremities were  closed in   
different widths by buttons of orient   
crystal1 pearls or  gold4    ,d',aubign1
 in his _/,universal ,history_/1 says in
 the course of a story  of a besieged   
town3--,the inhabitants descended thirty
 paces from the  breach1 and among the  
foremost was noticed a woman _/with     

,muffs_/1 a  halberd in her hand1 who   
mixed with and distinguished herself in 
this  combat4 ,under the designation of 
_/,muffs_/ we must understand here      
spare half-sleeves like those mentioned 
in the ,library of ,vauprivas  _/       
propos_/ of ,louise ,lab4 ,under        
,charles ,,ix4 the simple citizen  folk 
were only allowed to wear black ,muffs2 
ladies of the highest  condition had    
alone a right to sumptuous ,muffs of    
various colours4    ,in a satiric print 
of #afcd1 signed ,jaspar ,isac1 and     
entitled _/,the  ,squire  la ,mode_/1 we
 see carried by a woman1 who is         
accompanied on  foot by a ,gascon       
cavalier1 the first ,french ,muff having
 a direct  relation with that which is  
still in use at the present day4 ,it is 
a  sheath of stuff or silk bordered on  
both sides by a thick white fur1  which 
grows into an enormous roll at the ends4
    ,but it is amongst the precious     
engravings of ,hollar1 ,abraham ,bosse1 
,arnoult1 ,sandrart1 ,bonnard1 and      

,trouvain that we see the authentic     
,muff really born1 and find it in the   
hands of the ,parisian matron1  of the  
lady of quality in her winter dress1 of 
the _/,prcieuse_/1 and  the coquetting  
flirt4 ,an engraving of ,bonnard shows  
us a great lady  with her head dressed  
la ,fontange1 and in court dress1 on the
 point  of going out2 a waiting-maid    
adjusts her mantle1 and a gentleman     
attends the beauty's good pleasure2 the 
,muff she carries was then  of a        
moderate size1 with a bow in the middle4
 ,the ,muff was worn for  style1 for    
grace1 and was made of sable-marten for 
ladies of the  ,court1 and simply of    
dogskin or catskin for the small        
citizens'  wives who could not devote   
more than fifteen to twenty francs to   
the  acquisition of this light          
hand-warmer4    ,antoine ,furetire1 in  
his _/,dictionary_/1 has condensed in a 
few lines  all the materials of a       
,dissertation on the ,muff of the       
seventeenth  century4 ,at the word      

_/,muff_/ we read3--     ,a fur worn in 
winter1 in which to put the hands1 to   
keep them warm4   _/,muffs_/ were       
formerly only for women3 at the present 
day they are   carried by men4 ,the     
finest _/,muffs_/ are made of marten1 4 
4 4 4 the   common of miniver2 4 4 4 4  
the country _/,muffs_/ of the cavaliers 
are   made of otter and of tiger4 ,a    
woman puts her nose in her _/,muff_/ to 
hide herself4 ,a little _/,muff_/-dog is
 a little dog which ladies can   carry  
in their _/,muff_/4    ,everything we   
see is summed up in this4 ,saint-,jean  
and ,bonnard have  preserved for us     
types of ,french gentlemen bearing the  
,muff under  ,louis ,,xiv4 ,one1 in     
court dress1 carries with much grace a  
small  spotted ,muff1 which he holds in 
one hand1 showing a glimpse at  the     
unoccupied end of the cuff of a fur     
glove2 another1 in winter  court-dress1 
holds with the languor of a             
_/petit-matre_/ a pretty  plump otter   
,muff falling to the hips1 giving a     

gracious curve to the  arm2 in the      
middle of this ,muff a vast bow of      
ribbons or _/,galants_/1  something like
 the old trimming called _/petite oie_/1
 is displayed  with an excellent effect4
 ,in #afhj1 nothing1 according to the   
_/,mercure  ,galant_/1 was to be seen   
but ribbons purfled with gold1 laced1   
fringed1 wreathed1 purled1 or           
embroidered1 which were gathered in a   
bow in front1 of the ,muff4    ,la      
,fontaine alludes doubtless to the      
country ,muff spoken of by  ,furetire   
when1 in the fable of the _/,monkey and 
the ,leopard_/1 he  makes the latter    
say3--        ,the king desires me at   
his ,court1      ,and must have--if ,i  
die for't--      ,a _/,muff_/1 made of  
my skin1 so full of blots      ,of      
colour1 and of lines1 and dots1         
,and dappled stains1 and chequered      
spots4    ,as to the ,muff-dog--to      
finish the registration of the          
definition  of ,furetire--not only has  
,hollar left us an engraving of it1 and 

presented it to us under the form of a  
small ,spaniel1 but ,father du  ,cerceau
 makes his _/upholsterer poet_/         
say--,even the lady's lapdog  barked at 
me1 that ingrate        ,cadet1 for whom
 ,i used to stuff      ,so many sweets  
inside my ,muff4    ,the chief hall of  
the peltry merchants and furriers of the
 #agth  century1 in ,paris1 was in the  
,rue de la ,tabletterie or ,rue des     
,fourreurs1 which led into the cross-way
 of the ,place aux ,chats4 ,the  shops  
of the retail peltry merchants were     
nearly all situated in the  ,city1 ,rue 
,saint-,jacques de la ,boucherie1 and   
,rue de la ,juiverie4    ,in these      
places1 says ,lger1 are to be found very
 beautiful ,muffs  for men and for      
women1 and very fashionable ones 4 4 4  
there are to  be sold also very         
beautiful amices of miniver4 ,he adds a 
word about  the ,palatines properly got 
up1 composed of skins of animals1       
foreign  and native4 ,the _/,livre      
commode des adresses de ,paris_/        

contains some  designations of peltry   
merchants and furriers towards the end  
of the  seventeenth century4    ,fashion
 altered the shape of the ,muff         
considerably under ,louis ,,xiv4  ,from 
the rare documents which we have been   
able to catalogue1 we  have easily found
 numerous modifications in both form and
 volume4  ,sometimes narrow and long1   
sometimes broad and short1 it would be  
impossible to assign to this little     
chattel an exact type for all  that     
epoch4    ,the ,muff triumphed already1 
under ,louis ,,xiii41 in the empire of  
oglings and at the ,place ,royale1 as it
 reigned later at ,versailles1  and     
showed itself in sedan chairs in the    
midst of the alleys of  the park at the 
visiting hour1 lending always to woman a
 charming  countenance and exquisite    
graces4    ,scarron1 in his _/,posies   
,diverses_/1 has left us in four verses 
a  pretty picture of manners for any one
 who could morally develop it4  ,the    
poor cripple ,scarron certainly had no  

need of a ,muff in his  arm-chair6--    
,my wife then leaves at once1 though she
      ,all perils should divide with me2
          ,she takes her ,muff and goes 
,to see some one she knows4 4 4 4       
,but let us leave the age of big wigs   
and ,fontange head-dresses1  and        
penetrate into the age of powder and    
patches1 into the age of  ,voltaire1    
who1 _/ propos_/ of one of his          
characters in _/,micromgas_/1  wrote3   
,imagine a very small ,muff-dog         
following a captain of the ,guards of   
the ,king of ,prussia4    ,an engraving 
of the _/,encyclopdie_/ presents us in  
the nick of time  with a faithful       
reproduction of a shop of a furrier of  
the last  century4 ,day penetrates      
through a large glass bow window2 all   
round1  on shelves1 are ranged ,muffs   
and different furs2 two pleasing        
shopwomen offer their customers enormous
 ,muffs of miniver1 and a  shop-boy     
beats with a rod one of those furred    
mantles which were sent  to be kept     

during the summer1 to preserve them from
 the mites4 ,this  engraving1 a precious
 document which may be attributed to    
,cochin1  recalls two charming little   
stories of ,restif de la ,bretonne in   
his  _/,contemporaines du ,commun_/3 one
 entitled _/,la ,jolie ,fourreuse_/1 the
  other _/,la ,jolie ,pelletire_/4      
,professions passed out of sight6       
,furs--,,mm4 de ,goncourt wrote in a    
note of much study to their book  _/,la 
,femme au ,,xviiie ,sicle_/--were a     
great luxury of ,parisian  ladies1 at   
the time when the fashion was to arrive 
at the opera  wrapt in the most superb  
and rarest1 and to take them off little 
by little with coquettish art4 ,the     
reputation of the sable1 the  ermine1   
the miniver1 the lynx1 the otter1 is    
indicated in the  _/trennes ,fourres    
ddies aux jolies ,frileuses_/1 ,geneva1 
#aggj4  ,muffs have quite a history1    
from those on which the furrier brought 
discredit1 in causing one to be worn by 
the hangman on the execution  day--these

 were probably ,muffs _/ la ,jsuite_/1  
muffs which were not  of fur1 and       
against which a pleasantry at the       
commencement of the  century1 _/,a      
petition presented to the ,pope by the  
master furriers_/1  solicits            
excommunication--up to those of ,angora 
goats' hair1 immense  ,muffs which      
reached to the ground1 and to the little
 ,muffs at the  end of the century1     
baptized _/little barrels_/1 as the     
,palatine was  called _/cat_/4 ,the     
fashion of sledges1 then very widely    
spread1 added  to the fashion of furs4  
,an etching of ,caylus1 after a drawing 
of  ,coypel1 about the middle of the    
century1 shows us in a sledge set  on   
dolphins--one of those sledges which    
cost ten thousand crowns--a  pretty     
woman dressed entirely in fur1 her      
head-dress a small bonnet  of fur with  
an egret1 carried along in a sledge1    
which is driven by  a coachman dressed  
like a ,muscovite1 and standing at the  
back4 _/  propos_/ of furs1 the         

_/,palatine_/ owes its fortune and its  
name to the  ,duchess of ,orlans1 mother
 of the ,regent1 known under the name of
 the  ,princess ,palatine4              
,palatines--which were made of fox1 of  
marten1 of miniver--were worn  for a    
long time with _/,polonaises_/ and      
_/,hongrelines_/4 ,roy1 a ,french  poet 
of the #ahth century1 who made          
acquaintance with the stick  at         
different intervals--sent some bad      
verses to a lady on the  subject of her 
_/blue palatine_/4 ,the _/,almanach des 
,muses_/ of #aggb has  preserved them   
for us4 ,here they are3--               
,that charming colour wear1      ,the   
colour of the summer sky above1         
,the colour ,venus sets on every ,love1 
,which makes the fairest faces yet more 
fair1      ,as ,venus in her own sweet  
self can prove3      ,but the white     
place where falls the tufted bow        
,is nought indeed but lovely nakedness2 
,why hide it then8 ,the beauty which men
 bless      ,gains on the whole by      

losing1 don't you know8    ,caraccioli  
remarks that people used ,muffs in      
winter just as much for  elegance as for
 need4 ,the form varies continually1 he 
says2 to-day  7#agfh7 men carry small   
,muffs lined with down1 and trimmed with
 black  or grey satin4    ,in #agbj1    
women's ,muffs were very narrow and     
long2 the crossed hands  filled it      
exactly2 afterwards they became wider1  
like those we may  see on the hands of  
the pretty skaters of ,lancret4 ,a      
typical ,muff of  the epoch was the     
ermine ,muff1 fearfully large1 which we 
find carried  by the ,venetian masks of 
the delicious ,pietro ,longhi1 who seems
 to  have wished to illustrate by his   
pictures the _/,memoires_/ of ,jacques  
,casanova of ,seingalt4 ,in the small   
engravings of the century relating  to  
travelling1 which show us the stoppages 
at the inn1 or the  packings in the     
public vehicles1 we see everywhere the  
feminine ,muff  delicately pressed      
against their waists by the pretty      

adventuresses4  ,boucher's skater1 who  
passes like a gracious ,parisian little 
figure  over a background of a ,dutch   
landscape1 doubled up but valiant1      
appears to make a prow of her ,muff1 the
 better to cleave the sharp  cold air4  
,but in the intimacy of private life1 in
 the eighteenth  century as now1 the    
,muff could lend a charm to genre       
paintings1 and  the manufacturers of    
prints might have composed many         
_/,little posts_/  and _/,nests for     
love-letters_/1 interpreting by their   
drawing what the  author of the         
_/,dictionnaire des ,amoureux_/ wished  
to express1 when at  the word _/,muff_/ 
he gives this piquant definition3 _/,a  
,letter-box1  lined with white satin4_/ 
,the most celebrated and the most       
delicious picture in which a ,muff      
figures is assuredly that adorable      
painting known by the name of _/,the    
,young ,girl with the ,muff_/1 by       
,joshua ,reynolds1 which formed part of 
the beautiful collection of the ,marquis

 of ,hertford4 ,nothing is more         
delicate than this painting4 ,that young
 ,english-woman seems rather to  walk   
through the picture than remain fixed in
 it1 so great1 one might  say1 was the  
quickness with which the painter has    
caught that image  in its passage with  
its movement of walking--the body is    
inclined a  little forward1 the head on 
one side2 the woman's bust1 which stops 
at the ,muff1 is so fresh in its        
composition1 so fine in its tonality1   
so radiant in its originality of design1
 that it would be enough  almost by     
itself to establish the immortal        
reputation of ,reynolds1  who has put   
into his work a very quintessence of    
femininity1 as an  ideal of the most    
exquisite ,english loveliness1 and also 
as a type1  delicate and never to be    
forgotten1 of a chilly beauty4    ,nor  
must we forget the _/,portrait of ,mrs4 
,siddons_/1 painted by  ,gainsborough1  
in the charm of her twenty-ninth year1  
in #aghd4 ,this  picture1 which was     

exhibited at ,manchester in #aheg1 is   
now in the  _/,national ,gallery_/4 ,the
 charming lady1 dressed in a fresh      
striped  blue and white robe1 with a    
fawn-coloured shawl half falling from   
her shoulders1 has on her head a large  
black felt hat1 ornamented  with        
feathers--one of those hats which have  
done more for the  vulgarisation of the 
glory of ,gainsborough than all his     
studies  and portraits4 ,mrs4 ,siddons  
is seated1 holding on her lap with her  
left hand a comfortable ,muff of fox or 
,siberian wolf1 of which she  appears to
 caress the fur with her right hand1 as 
if to show off the  beauty and whiteness
 of her spindle-shaped fingers4 ,the    
mistress of  the works of a master who  
had1 it is only right to say1 the most  
ravishing face in the world to portray4 
,but1 without needing to have  further  
recourse to the ,english school1 have we
 not that luminous  portrait of ,madame 
,vige ,lebrun1 in which the ,muff1      
raised almost  level with the head1     

spreads the shine of its hair of tawny  
gold  like the head of a courtezan of   
,venice8 ,that astonishing painting  of 
the end of the eighteenth century       
appeared in its dazzling  splendour1 in 
the midst of the square saloon of the   
,museum of the  ,louvre1 killing1 by    
mere force of freshness and light1 the  
magistral  bituminous pictures of the   
beginning of the century1 which are its 
near neighbours4    ,under ,louis ,,xvi4
 the frenzy of the toilette reached its 
most acute  crisis3 fashions succeeded  
one another in a few years with so much 
rapidity that we can scarcely follow    
them2 people sought to outstrip  in     
everything rather than to refine1 and   
the ,muffs1 carried by men  and women   
alike1 became enormous and exaggerated4 
,hurtaut1 in his  _/,dictionnaire de la 
,ville de ,paris_/1 article _/,modes_/1 
makes this  strange remark in the year  
#aghd1 ,a lady has been seen at the     
opera  with a _/,muff of momentaneous   
agitation_/4    ,the intellect loses    

itself in seeking the exact definition  
of this  qualificative of _/momentaneous
 agitation_/6    ,in #aghh a fashion was
 ,muffs of ,siberian wolf4 ,according to
 the  _/,magasin des ,modes ,nouvelles  
,franaises et ,anglaises_/1 the young   
folks no longer carried their ,muff     
after the peaceable and good            
citizen-like fashion _/ la papa_/ level 
with the bottom of the  waistcoat2 they 
used it1 on the contrary1 like a        
plaything or an  opera hat2 they held it
 in their hand while gesticulating in   
their  promenades1 or carried it under  
their arms like a portfolio strangled   
and crumpled between the elbow and the  
chest4    ,the little dogs1 the         
,muff-toy-terriers1 which had continued 
in favour  since the ,regency1 were more
 in request now than ever2 every woman  
of  fashion had her pug and her ,king   
,charles' pet1 like those small dogs    
that now come from ,havanna4    ,in the 
celebrated coloured engraving of        
,debucourt1 _/,la ,galerie de  ,bois au 

,palais-,royal_/1 in #aghg1 we see      
circulating in the midst of  that       
strange crowd which was called the      
medley of the ,palais-,royal1           
extravagant types1 among them women     
holding in their hand beside  their     
furred cloak those incredible ,muffs of 
an immense size1 which  figure also     
under the arms of the masked gallants of
 the time1 with a  small bow of satin   
attached to the fur4    ,under the      
,revolution and the ,directory the      
fashion of ,muffs was  extremes1 either 
broad as little barrels1 or narrow and  
minuscular2  in other respects the      
fashion varied infinitely1 and we must  
come to  the ,restoration to find the   
first chinchilla ,muffs which harmonised
  with the velvet witchouras4 ,absurd   
fashions to study6 ,what ,muff  would   
the painter choose who wished1 by way of
 allegory1 to show  a grasshopper       
shivering in the hoar frost and the     
snow1 to whom  charitable ,love brings a
 downy ,muff8 ,a pretty subject for a   

concourse  of an ,academy which claimed 
to be _/prcieuse_/ and refined4    ,in  
#ahce1 ,muffs1 boas1 palatines1 cloaks  
lined with marten or fox1  affected     
odious and indescribable forms3 they    
used to make for a time  ,glove-,muffs1 
a sort of mittens of marten1 which were 
soldered on to  one another where the   
hands crossed4 ,the ,muff1 that         
accessory of the  toilet1 ought to be in
 harmony with the general tonality and  
style of  costume4 ,therefore1 to       
undertake to describe it at that epoch  
would  be only possible in sketching a  
complete history of ,fashion4    ,the   
picturesque ,muff of #ahcj to #ahej1 is 
assuredly the big ,muff  of the         
,parisian or provincial tradeswomen1    
those ,muffs1 larders  and lumber-rooms1
 which we meet in the deobstruent tales 
of ,paul  de ,kock1 and see figuring in 
the primitive tilted spring-carts       
driven by the master1 in which are      
packed the mistress and all the         
assistant clerks1 with a view to        

exploring some suburban corner on       
,sunday1 there to laugh with their muffs
 pressed before their mouths1  and to   
act a thousand follies of a doubtful    
taste1 and to banquet  plentifully1 and 
to sing during the dessert some         
free-and-easy ditty1  very jovial1 after
 the fashion of those pleasant couplets 
of ,laujon  on _/,the ,muff_/1 which ,i 
will quote here1 with the more          
confidence1  since they figure in the   
_/,chansons de ,parades_/ collected by  
that boon  companion1 who was at the    
same time member of the ,caveau and of  
the  ,institute3--        ,see what it  
is to be too good6        ,one morning1 
leaving the warm fold      ,of home1    
,simon ,i saw1 who stood        ,and    
shivered in the nipping cold2      ,he  
cried1 ,come here1 you little pearl1    
,i feel so very cold1 my girl6          
,now warm yourself6      ,simon1 good   
sir1 ensconce yourself6      ,i'll lend 
you1 sir1 my bran-new ,muff6            
,my dear6      ,i'll lend you1 sir1 my  

bran-new ,muff6        ,i feel so very  
cold1 my girl6        ,ay me6 ,i had my 
new ,muff on4      ,my head was surely  
in a whirl        ,to lend it to the    
good ,simon4      ,that day my kindness 
cost me dear2      ,my ,muff is spoilt  
for all the year6            ,now warm  
yourself6      ,i'll lend you1 sir1 my  
bran-new ,muff6                      ,my
 dear6        ,my ,muff is spoilt for   
all the year1        ,for ,simon's ways 
are rather rough2      ,and he knows    
nought of doubt or fear1        ,he     
quite destroyed my poor new ,muff6      
,simon1 you've ruffled all its fur1     
,made it too large1 you careless sir6   
,now warm yourself6      ,i'll lend you1
 sir1 my bran-new ,muff6                
,my dear6        ,made it too large1 you
 careless sir6        ,see3 it has been 
entirely spoiled1      ',tis            
metamorphosed1 ,i aver2        ,and     
seems all rumpled up and soiled4        
',tis like my aunt's ,muff1 all agape1  
,quite out of countenance and shape6    

,now warm yourself6      ,simon1 good   
sir1 ensconce yourself6      ,i'll lend 
you1 sir1 my bran-new ,muff6            
,my dear6      ,i'll lend you1 sir1 my  
bran-new ,muff6    ,what laughter1 what 
shouts1 what chokings1 in those parties 
_/ la_/  ,paul de ,kock1 when an artless
 maiden--at the time when pleasant      
digestion had set its bloom on all      
faces--sang1 one by one1 these  ancient 
couplets1 with an air at once of a      
whimpering girl and of a  woman full of 
coquettish intelligence4    ,the ,muff  
has not always brought tears of laughter
 to the eyes1 and  a physiologist might 
draw from it many a curious deduction2  
only to  cite a single instance1 in the 
middle of the _/,scnes de la ,vie de    
,bohme_/1 in the episode of ,francine's 
,muff1 which should remain in  every    
reader's memory--the tears come into all
 our eyes resultant  from an emotion at 
once sincere and profound4    ,francine 
has been condemned by her doctor1 and   
_/hears with her eyes_/  the terrible   

sentence of the physician4    ,don't    
listen to him1 says she to her love1    
don't listen to him1  ,jacques1 he is   
telling stories2 we will go out         
to-morrow1 it is ,all  ,hallows ,day1 it
 will be cold1 4 4 4 go and buy me a    
,muff1 4 4 4 mind  it is a good one1 4 4
 4 and will last a long while2 ,i am    
afraid of  having chilblains this       
winter4    ,then1 when ,jacques has     
brought the ,muff3 ,it is very pretty1  
said  ,francine2 ,i will carry it in our
 walk4    ,the morrow1 ,all ,hallows    
,day1 about the time of the ,angelus of 
noon1  she was seized with the          
death-struggle1 and all her body began  
to  tremble4 ,my hands are cold1 cold1  
she murmured1 give me my ,muff1         
dear--and she plunged her poor little   
fingers into the fur4    ,it is over1   
said the doctor to ,jacques1 give her a 
last kiss2 and  ,jacques glued his lips 
to those of his darling4 ,at the last   
moment1  they wished to take away her   
,muff1 but her hands still clung to it4 

,no1 no1 she cried1 let it be--we are in
 winter1 it is cold4 ,ah my  poor       
,jacques6    ,and so ,francine dies1    
without quitting her ,muff4 ,a poignant 
and  lugubrious story1 like the work of 
,murger in general2 the _/,muff of      
,francine_/ will perhaps be the most    
durable chapter in the _/,vie de        
,bohme_/4 ,we have not been able to set 
this realistic scene upon  the stage1   
but a painter1 ,m4 ,haquette1 has       
displayed it after an  admirable manner 
in one of his best pictures exhibited in
 one of the  ,paris annual ,salons4     
,truly the ,muff calls up many sad      
thoughts for sentimental and  charitable
 souls2 this winter chattel reminds them
 of the sorrows  of those who are       
without fire and home and comfortable   
clothing1  and when the north wind blows
 without1 and the snow falls softly  in 
sombre silence1 more than one dreaming  
girl1 with her elbow  leaning on the    
window-sill1 lets her ,muff fall while  
thinking of  those unfortunates who     

suffer1 of the careless grasshoppers and
 the  laborious ants1 of whom an adverse
 fortune has deceived the foresight4    
,the ,muff1 the mysterious ,muff1 hides 
many distresses3 we see it at  the      
present day on the hands of all the     
working girls and milliners1  who set   
out early in the winter mornings from   
their homes for the  distant workshops2 
and it is a load upon one's heart to see
 all these  miserable little ,muffs made
 of rabbit or black cat1 out of which   
peeps often the golden point of a penny 
roll and a greasy paper which  envelops 
a chlorotic piece of pork or an         
_/,arlequin_/ 7bits of broken  meat7    
bought in the early market4 ,the ,muff  
which warms so many pretty  hands brave 
and toiling1 seems in winter to be the  
refuge of virtue1  shivering but        
victorious4    ,how much luxury is      
there1 on the other hand1 in the ,muffs 
of the fine  world during the last      
twenty years6 ,they have been made very 
small1  of sable tails1 and very        

expensive2 but there have been also some
  more modest1 made with that marten of 
,australia which took the place  of the 
,astrakhan1 which passed out of fashion 
in #ahfj4 ,they have been  manufactured 
also in velvet plush or in cloth1 with  
borders of fur  or feathers1 and a large
 bow of ribbons in the centre4 ,some    
became  veritable scent-bags1 perfumed  
with heliotrope1 rose1 gardenia1        
verbena1 violet1 or they were powdered  
inside with orris root or  _/poudre  la 
,marchale_/4    ,an elegant and witty   
lady-correspondent of fashion1 who signs
 with  the word _/tincelle_/ the notes  
full of charming confusion in her       
_/,carnet d'un ,mondain_/1 lately gave  
the nomenclature of the ,muffs of  the  
day1 painted in water-colours3    ,the  
,nest-,muff1 in satin _/couliss_/1 lined
 with black and white lace1  with a     
whole company of little ,indian birds   
and frightened paroquets  hiding        
themselves in the satin folds4    ,the  
,flower-,muff1 very small1 of ivory     

plush1 rouge cardinal or  marine blue1  
with bunches of roses1 marigolds1       
camellias1 and violets  blossoming in   
the midst of a great deal of lace4      
,the ,watteau-,muff for the evening3 a  
round of ,loves painted on white  satin4
 ,the ,coppe-,muff3 sparrows sunk in a  
sky of black satin4 ,the  ,figaro-,muff1
 in black velvet1 entirely covered with 
a net of black  and gold chenille3 three
 humming-birds in a nest of black lace4 
,the  ,duchess ,muff3 all of ,marabout1 
imitating fur1 shaded with little bows  
of dead satin4 ,the ,castilian1 in      
plush1 covered with point noir3 an      
orange parroquet in the middle standing 
out in relief on a fan of  black lace4  
,the ,minerva1 in skunk or sable1 with a
 black satin bow  and the head of a     
barn-door owl4    ,all these fashions of
 to-day are already fashions of         
yesterday1 so  perpetual is the         
inconstancy of _/la ,mode_/6 ,to-day the
 monkey1 blue  fox1 beaver1 swan1 and   
ermine are metamorphosed into ,muffs2   

to-morrow  will come the furs of sable1 
of otter1 of chinchilla1 of squirrel1 of
  marten1 of wolf1 c4 ,women and furs   
change1 and will change1 soon and       
often4    ,fashion is the everlasting   
,fairy2 whether she take the ,sunshade  
as  a rod at the end of her gloved hand1
 or the ,muff as a surprise-box  or a   
cornucopia1 she is never short of       
inventions1 of prodigies1 of  follies1  
and of ruins2 she seems to avenge       
herself on the moderns  because the     
ancients gave her not divine honours1   
nor placed her upon  the summit of their
 ,olympus4 ,let1 then1 the head of this 
new and  great goddess be adorned with a
 weathercock helmet1 of which ,love     
will furnish the magnetic arrow1 and let
 a statue be raised to that  great first
 ,french citizeness1 who from ,paris    
governs the world with  so formidable a 
despotism1 against whom none ever dreams
 of raising a  revolt4    ,for us1 who1 
_/ propos_/ of the ,sunshade1 the       
,glove1 and the ,muff1  have just cast a

 glance upon the museum of this female  
ruler1 we  are in a state of dread from 
the inconceivable variety of objects    
which were for an hour a woman's        
pleasure1 and1 if we have not  conducted
 our readers before all the glass cases 
of this national  museum1 great as the  
universe1 or the vastest in the world1  
as all  large milliners' shops entitle  
themselves1 it is because around the    
ornaments of women the fickle ,loves    
will always dance their frenzied  round1
 which only a madman can ever hope and  
wish to stop4 ,it has  been said that   
,fashion is woman's only literature2 if1
 however1 our  elegant ladies were      
condemned to study the special archology
 of this  literature1 very soon--as in  
love--would they desert ,history for    
,romance4          ,,appendix      ,we  
see sometimes appearing certain light   
little works connected  either with     
literary history or ancient poetry1 or  
manners and  customs1 which would be    
nothing but pretty and curious          

pamphlets1  if the ,appendix which      
follows them were not swelled out of all
  proportion with proofs and            
illustrations1 annotated notes1         
documents  with sidenotes1 bibliographic
 bibliography1 considerations and       
commentaries of all sorts1 which put the
 reader to the torture4 ,by  this       
proceeding of an exaggerated literary   
conscience1 an opuscule of  thirty pages
 arrives sometimes at three hundred3 it 
is in some sense  a case of erudite     
exaltation1 sometimes also a vain-glory 
of the  investigator1 who has a mind to 
climb up the pyramid of books he has    
examined1 proudly there to set up his   
silhouette1 as we plant a flag  on a    
building as soon as it is complete4     
,as an epilogue to another volume of    
this series1 _/,the ,fan_/1 we          
published a sketch of documentary       
bibliography to indicate the  principal 
works which we had searched for the     
little materials  necessary for that    
monograph4 ,you will find there six or  

eight pages  of titles placed without   
order1 and ending with this phrase of a 
man  out of breath1 and expressing      
extreme fatigue--_/et ctera_/4    ,and  
in this _/et ctera_/ we have set now a  
hundred library shelves in  the         
shadow--sparing thus our most fastidious
 readers an extremely  bitter pill1 and 
sparing ourselves also the fatigues of  
an  interminable catalogue of no great  
profit to any one1 considering  the     
nature of the work in question1 and the 
fashion in which we have  treated it4   
,at the conclusion of the three         
unpretending pieces of chit-chat which  
we have just engaged in about _/,the    
,sunshade1 the ,glove1 and the  ,muff_/1
 people may expect to see figuring here 
the lineaments or first  matters of the 
canvas on which we embroidered our bold 
arabesques4  ,people will be deceived4  
,it will please us for this time to hide
 the  innumerable instruments of our    
thefts2 they are still there by our     
sides1 making walls and barricades upon 

our tables and the seats  round about   
us4 ,but if1 on the termination of a    
task1 we love usually  to put back      
regularly in order a library turned     
upside down by the  fever of researches1
 happy in being nourished by the        
intellectual  juice of old books1       
sometimes also we are prostrated by that
 intense  discouragement which dumfounds
 a man1 according to an every-day       
expression4 ,in fact1 the result has not
 answered so great a working  up of     
material1 a picture has been dreamed of 
too big for the frame1  the artist has  
been obliged to reduce himself1 to      
resign himself1  and to put in nothing  
of his own essence2 in short1 the       
,mosaic  _/littrateur_/ looks at the    
,little ,thing he has just finished     
beside  the ,great ,matter which he had 
conceived4    ,in like conditions1 the  
_/me culp_/ is the sole preventive      
parade  that can be made in his retreat 
to questions which become twisted  into 
a note of interrogation on the smiling  

lips of the reader4    ,to make an      
inventory of the books we have consulted
 would be a  torture worse than that of 
,tantalus1 for desire1 far from looking 
forward with eagerness1 would look sadly
 back1 like an old man who  sees again  
in memory the women of his twentieth    
year1 whom he has  let fly under the    
willows without profiting in their      
pursuit by the  vigour of his legs4     
,these books--which we serve not up     
here--are full of documents which  we   
have not been able to enshrine1 and it  
seems that the crumbs which  fall from  
the table make a larger volume than the 
repast which has  just been taken4      
,for the rest1 a truce to sadness and   
superfluous regrets6 ,who knows  whether
 we are not odiously unjust to          
ourselves8 ,who knows whether  the      
little schoolboy path which we have     
chosen is not the prettiest1  the least 
rugged1 the most unforeseen--that is to 
say1 the least  painful and the most    
verdant1 and at the same time the       

shortest8    ,every work1 however small 
it may be1 requires distance1 a time  of
 calm and oblivion4 ,the eye of the     
painter wanders in distress  before one 
and the same picture for entire days2   
the brain of an  investigator becomes   
anchylosed and petrified by dreaming in 
one and  the same atmosphere of small   
ideas which remain attached to dress4   
,when we shall have unfurnished our     
skull of those delicate things1  _/the  
,sunshade1 ,glove1 and ,muff_/1 to carry
 thither a current of more  serious     
conceptions1 we shall perhaps have      
leisure to read again our  little work  
as strangers1 and not as producers1 and 
thus1 doubtless1  we shall reflect with 
a satisfied smile1 that there was much  
more in  us of wisdom than carelessness 
in not tarrying too long amongst such   
charming trifles6                       
_/,,london_/1   #ad1 ,,king ,,william   
,,street1 ,,strand1 ,w4,c4   _/,may     
#ahhc4_/     ,,in ,,twelve ,,volumes1   
,,crown #h,,vo1 ,,parchment ,,boards    

,,or   ,,cloth1 ,,per ,,volume1 #g,s4   
#f;,d4     ,,the   ,,old ,,spanish      
,,romances     _/,,illustrated ,,with   
,,etchings4_/       ,,the ,,history ,,of
 ,,don ,,quixote ,,de ,,la ,,mancha4    
,translated from the   ,spanish of      
,,miguel ,,de ,,cervantes ,,saavedra by 
,,motteux4 ,with copious   ,notes       
7including the ,spanish ,ballads71 and  
an ,essay on the ,life   and ,writings  
of ,,cervantes by ,,john ,g4 ,,lockhart4
 ,preceded by a ,short   ,notice of the 
,life and ,works of ,,peter ,,anthony   
,,motteux by ,,henri ,,van   ,,laun4    
,illustrated with ,sixteen ,original    
,etchings by ,r4 ,,de ,,los ,,rios4     
,four ,volumes4     ,,lazarillo ,,de    
,,tormes4 ,by ,,don ,,diego ,,mendoza4  
,translated by ,,thomas   ,,roscoe4 ,and
 ,,guzman ,d',,alfarache4 ,by ,,mateo   
,,aleman4 ,translated by   ,,brady4     
,illustrated with ,eight ,original      
,etchings by ,r4 ,,de ,,los ,,rios4     
,two ,volumes4     ,,asmodeus4 ,by ,,le 
,,sage4 ,translated from the ,french4   

,illustrated with   ,four ,original     
,etchings by ,r4 ,,de ,,los ,,rios4     
,,the ,,bachelor ,,of ,,salamanca4 ,by  
,,le ,,sage4 ,translated from the       
,french by   ,,james ,,townsend4        
,illustrated with ,four ,original       
,etchings by ,r4 ,,de ,,los   ,,rios4   
,,vanillo ,,gonzales2 or1 ,the ,merry   
,bachelor4 ,by ,,le ,,sage4 ,translated 
from the ,french4 ,illustrated with     
,four ,original ,etchings by ,r4 ,,de   
,,los ,,rios4     ,,the ,,adventures    
,,of ,,gil ,,blas ,,of ,,santillane4    
,translated from the ,french   of ,,le  
,,sage by ,,tobias ,,smollett4 ,with    
,biographical and ,critical ,notice   of
 ,,le ,,sage by ,,george ,,saintsbury4  
,new ,edition1 carefully revised4       
,illustrated with ,twelve ,original     
,etchings by ,r4 ,,de ,,los ,,rios4     
,three   ,volumes4           ,,in       
,,twelve ,,volumes1 ,,crown #h,,vo1     
,,parchment ,,boards ,,or   ,,cloth1    
,,per ,,volume1 #g,s4 #f;,d4     ,,old  
,,english ,,romances     _/,,illustrated

 ,,with ,,etchings4_/       ,,the ,,life
 ,,and ,,opinions ,,of ,,tristram       
,,shandy1 ,,gentleman4 ,by ,,laurence   
,,sterne4 ,in ,two ,vols4 ,with ,eight  
,etchings by ,,damman from ,original    
,drawings by ,,harry ,,furniss4         
,,the ,,old ,,english ,,baron3 ,a       
,,gothic ,,story4 ,by ,,clara ,,reeve4  
,,also     ,,the ,,castle ,,of          
,,otranto3 ,a ,,gothic ,,story4 ,by     
,,horace ,,walpole4 ,in   ,one ,vol4    
,with ,two ,portraits and ,four         
,original ,drawings by ,a4 ,h4          
,,tourrier1 ,etched by ,,damman4        
,,the ,,arabian ,,nights                
,,entertainments4 ,in ,four ,vols4      
,carefully ,revised   and ,corrected    
from the ,arabic by ,,jonathan ,,scott1 
,,ll4,d41 ,oxford4 ,with   ,nineteen    
,original ,etchings by ,,ad4 ,,lalauze4 
,,the ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,caliph     
,,vathek4 ,by ,,wm4 ,,beckford4 ,with   
,notes1   ,critical and ,explanatory4   
,,also     ,,rasselas1 ,,prince ,,of    
,,abyssinia4 ,by ,,samuel ,,johnson4 ,in

 ,one ,vol4 ,with   ,portrait of        
,,beckford1 and ,four ,original         
,etchings1 designed by ,a4 ,h4          
,,tourrier1 and ,etched by ,,damman4    
,,robinson ,,crusoe4 ,by ,,daniel       
,,defoe4 ,in ,two ,vols4 ,with          
,biographical   ,memoir1 ,illustrative  
,notes1 and ,eight ,etchings by ,m4     
,,mouilleron1 and   ,portrait by ,l4    
,,flameng4     ,,gulliver',s ,,travels4 
,by ,,jonathan ,,swift4 ,with ,five     
,etchings and   ,portrait by ,,ad4      
,,lalauze4     ,a ,,sentimental         
,,journey4 ,by ,,laurence ,,sterne4     
,,also     ,a ,,tale ,,of ,a ,,tub4 ,by 
,,jonathan ,,swift4 ,in ,one ,vol4 ,with
 ,five ,etchings   and ,portrait by     
,,ed4 ,,hedouin4          _/,,some      
,,press ,,notices4_/      ,daily        
,telegraph4    ,these editions are      
noteworthy as containing original       
etchings by  artists of high repute4    
,thus nineteen exquisite plates by the  
,french  etcher1 ,m4 ,lalauze1 gives    
especial attractiveness to the          

',thousand  and ,one ,nights2' and the  
two fanciful histories of the ,caliph   
,vathek  and ,prince ,rasselas are      
illustrated by designs of ,mr4 ,a4 ,h4  
,tourrier1  etched by ,m4 ,damman4 ,it  
is a pleasure to hold a ',robinson      
,crusoe' or  the ',tale of a ,tub' in   
one's hands2 it is a positive luxury to 
read  those masterpieces in a luxurious 
shape1 large print1 on good paper1      
accompanied by exquisite illustrations4 
,the ,scotsman4    ,these volumes will  
take rank1 for beauty of typography and 
general  excellence of appearance1 with 
any books of the kind that have         
recently been published2 while the      
etchings by ,m4 ,lalauze are among  some
 of the finest of his productions4 ,they
 are full of vigour  and striking       
originality1 and are what they profess  
to be--good  illustrations of the story 
to which they relate4 ,there are not    
many  men of wholesome minds who do not 
find enjoyment in ',robinson ,crusoe'   
whenever they can lay hands on it2 and  

assuredly there is no one  possessing   
anything in the shape of a library who  
would not desire to  have a good edition
 of the work among his books2 in short1 
nothing  but praise can be given to this
 edition of these books4 ,no one can    
pretend to be acquainted with ,english  
literature who is ignorant of  any of   
the works here published4      ,glasgow 
,herald4    ,the merits of this new     
issue lie in exquisite clearness of     
type1  completeness2 notes and          
biographical notices1 short and pithy1  
and  a number of very fine etchings and 
portraits4 ,the illustrations of        
,gulliver are particularly effective1   
such as the ',academy of ,laputa'  and  
the ',visions of ,glubbdubdrib4'        
,london ,figaro4    ,we congratulate the
 publishers upon the issue of a capital 
series of  ,old ,english ,romances4     
,they will form a most delightful       
collection4      ,magazine of ,art4     
,the text of the new four volume edition
 of the ',thousand and ,one  ,nights' is

 that revised by ,jonathan ,scott from  
the ,french of ,galland4  ,it is1 in    
fact1 the text in which the incomparable
 ',arabian ,nights'  became in ,england 
the classic it is4 ,the etchings are    
uncommonly  skilful and finished work2  
they contain some charming figures2 they
  constitute a true attraction4 ,in     
another volume of this series           
,beckford's wild and gloomy ',vathek'   
appears side by side with  ,johnson's   
admirable ',rasselas4'      ,the        
,literary ,world4    ,a publishers'     
notice prefixed to each volume states   
that 'one  thousand copies of this      
edition have been printed and the type  
distributed4 ,no more will be           
published4' ,although some of these     
works  are now easily obtainable in a   
cheap form1 good editions are rare and  
eagerly sought by those who make any    
pretence of making a library4  ,here is 
an opportunity of securing as choice an 
edition as can be  desired at a         
comparatively low price1 the value of   

which will be  enhanced before long by  
its scarcity4      ,the ,times4         
,prettily printed and prettily          
illustrated1 these attractive volumes   
deserve their welcome from all students 
of seventeenth century  literature4     
,the ,daily ,news4    ,the merit for    
modern readers of these old stories lies
 partly in  their inexhaustible wit1    
their knowledge of human nature1 which  
never grows stale1 and partly in their  
pictures of the old reckless  life of   
,spain4 ,a typical example of these     
novels is the fictitious  autobiography 
of ,guzman d',alfarache1 the ,spanish   
rogue1 written by  ,matthew ,aleman at  
the beginning of the seventeenth        
century4      ,daily ,telegraph4    ,a  
handy and beautiful edition1 in twelve  
volumes1 of the works of  the ,spanish  
masters of romance calls for a word of  
acknowledgment  from all who desire to  
see the lights of foreign literature    
fitly  presented to the notice of       
,english readers4 ,we may say of this   

edition of the immortal work of         
,cervantes1 that it is most tastefully  
and admirably executed1 and that it is  
embellished with a series  of striking  
etchings from the pen of the ,spanish   
artist1 ,de ,los  ,rios4 4 4 4 ,those   
who have already made acquaintance with 
these  masterpieces of exotic humour    
will need no encouragement to send them 
once again to a fountain from which such
 pure enjoyment is to be  derived1 and  
in so acceptable a shape as ,messrs4    
,nimmo  ,bain have  provided4      ,the 
,scotsman4    ,what man of middle age is
 there1 who has been a reader of books1 
who  does not look back with pleasure to
 his first acquaintance with ',don      
,quixote' or the ',adventures of ,gil   
,blas'8 ,if he has been a wise man  of  
equal mind1 he has gone further afield  
in these romances1 and has  made        
acquaintance with ',asmodeus1' ',the    
,bachelor of ,salamanca1' and  other    
works of a like kind4 ,they have been   
read by many thousands of  ,british     

readers1 and they will be read by many  
thousands more4 4 4 4  ,what the reading
 public have reason to congratulate     
themselves  upon is1 that so neat1      
compact1 and well-arranged an edition of
  romances that can never die is put    
within their reach4 ,the publishers     
have spared no pains with them4 ,it has 
already been said that ,mr4  ,saintsbury
 has written a prefatorial notice of ,le
 ,sage2 a similar  work has been done by
 other hands in the case of ,cervantes4 
,it is  satisfactory to find publishers 
turning their attention to the          
reproduction1 in worthy form1 of classic
 fiction2 and the hope may be           
entertained that in this case the       
enterprise will meet with merited       
reward4      ,westminster ,review4      
,we notice with warm welcome a new and  
very handsome illustrated  edition of   
the original ',arabian ,nights          
,entertainment1' the 'real  ,simon      
pure1' and never have we seen the       
fascinating companion of our  youth more

 'daintily dight4' ,type and paper are  
both of the finest  quality1 while ,m4  
,lalauze's graceful and delicate        
etchings lend  an additional charm to   
the text4 ',the ,thousand and ,one      
,nights of  ,schhrzade' occupy four     
goodly volumes1 and uniform with them is
  ,beckford's ',vathek' and ,dr4        
,johnson's ',rasselas' in one volume4   
,j4 ,c4 ,,nimmo  ,,bain1   #ad1 ,,king  
,,william ,,street1 ,,strand1 ,,london1 
,w4,c4          ,,transcriber',s ,,note 
,original printed spelling and          
punctuation variations are mostly       
retained4 ,this was a profusely         
illustrated book1 but none had  captions
 or titles1 and are therefore not       
indicated herein4 ,the html  and mobile 
editions retain most of the             
illustrations4 ,small caps  and bolded  
text have been converted to capital     
letters4 ,italics are  indicated _/like 
this_/4 ,the carat symbol indicates that
 the following  phrase or character is  
superscript1 as in ,mme44    ,page #ajd3

 villanously changed to villainously4