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' Paris & The Parisians in 1835 VOL I ' by Frances Milton Trollope immerses readers in the French capital under the July Monarchy, blending sharp social observations with architectural insights. Trollope, a pioneer of Victorian travel writing, dissects Parisian customs with a critical yet fascinated eye, contrasting aristocratic salons with the chaos of pre-Haussmann streets.
The volume decodes fashion norms, political tensions, and cultural clashes between French and English societies during Louis-Philippes reign. Passages on the Palais-Royal and Parisian theaters reveal a society torn between revolutionary legacies and bourgeois aspirations.
A cornerstone for European cultural history enthusiasts, this work serves as both historical guide and early manifesto of ethnographic methodology. Its analysis of gender roles and class inequality foreshadows modern sociological debates.
About the author
Frances Milton Trollope (1779.1863), mother of novelist Anthony Trollope, revolutionized travel writing with bold sociocultural critiques. Born in Bristol, she began her literary career at 53 after a disastrous American sojourn that inspired her infamous Domestic Manners of the Americans (1832).
Her Parisian works, written during self-imposed European exile, merge investigative rigor with polemical wit. Observing urban and political transformations, she influenced both social reformers and 19th-century realist authors.
Despite accusations of bias, her analyses of France and Italy remain key references for historians studying European national identities.
