Category Archives: Belle Époque
Death of a magus
The demise of Joséphin Péladan, the man behind the modern Rosicrucian revival, 100 years ago today
Death of a magus
The demise of Joséphin Péladan, the man behind the modern Rosicrucian revival, 100 years ago today
La vie en Palais Rose
The collection of Boni de Castellane and Anna Gould
17-plus books for 2017
Dead poets, nude dancers, good bohemians, mystical Symbolists, jaded aristocrats, queer courtiers and blind men at play in a realm of dreams and voodoo
17-plus books for 2017
Dead poets, nude dancers, good bohemians, mystical Symbolists, jaded aristocrats, queer courtiers and blind men at play in a realm of dreams and voodoo
Late entries
A few book titles from late 2016 you may have missed…
A dandy in aspic
Monsieur de Bougrelon covers the waterfront in Jean Lorrain’s singular, intoxicating novella
A dandy in aspic
Monsieur de Bougrelon covers the waterfront in Jean Lorrain’s singular, intoxicating novella
Royally buzzed
“Even the mummies stand up and walk when they drink Vin Mariani!”
14 books for 2014
Books, books, books – dirty and otherwise
Springfield Virginia
Beyond the the sleeveless green shift
Georges Bottini | Lorrain illustrations
Creatures of the Parisian night in a 1904 novel by Jean Lorrain
Georges Bottini | Lorrain illustrations
Creatures of the Parisian night in a 1904 novel by Jean Lorrain
Dress-down Friday: Liane de Pougy
Postcard images of the grande horizontale
The ghosts of Versailles
Did two English spinsters slip through a wormhole in the early 20th century and end up in pre-revolutionary France? SPOILER ALERT: No.
The ghosts of Versailles
Did two English spinsters slip through a wormhole in the early 20th century and end up in pre-revolutionary France? SPOILER ALERT: No.
Dress-down Friday: Loie Fuller
Step, one, two, swirl, waft, billow, step, one, two…
Finding the Woman Who Didn’t Exist
“Women may have faced many limitations in nineteenth-century France, but not everyone played by the rules and Gisèle d’Estoc seems to have broken most of them at one time or another in her colorful life.”
Finding the Woman Who Didn’t Exist
“Women may have faced many limitations in nineteenth-century France, but not everyone played by the rules and Gisèle d’Estoc seems to have broken most of them at one time or another in her colorful life.”
13 books for 2013
Swordswomen, working boys, crypto-fascist poets, bohemians, Decadents, Surrealists, occultists…business as usual really.
13 books for 2013
Swordswomen, working boys, crypto-fascist poets, bohemians, Decadents, Surrealists, occultists…business as usual really.
The poet of the bats
“Did he really invent an orchestra of perfumes, an orchestra of liqueurs, on which he could play the subtlest harmonies of the senses?”
The poet of the bats
“Did he really invent an orchestra of perfumes, an orchestra of liqueurs, on which he could play the subtlest harmonies of the senses?”
Jacques-Émile Blanche | portraits
Many of these portraits are currently on display in the exhibition Du côté de chez Jacques-Émile Blanche at the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.
Jacques-Émile Blanche | portraits
Many of these portraits are currently on display in the exhibition Du côté de chez Jacques-Émile Blanche at the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.
Dress-down Friday: La Belle Otero
Even given Otero’s reputation it’s surprising just how far she goes: dressed as a nun, a torera and a Byzantine empress; clad in a daring catsuit or scandalously baring her shoulders.
Dress-down Friday: La Belle Otero
Even given Otero’s reputation it’s surprising just how far she goes: dressed as a nun, a torera and a Byzantine empress; clad in a daring catsuit or scandalously baring her shoulders.
Dreamers of Decadence
“For a long time the chimeras have slept, stifled by the images they have inspired, and for a long time the sphinxes have asked no questions.”
Dreamers of Decadence
“For a long time the chimeras have slept, stifled by the images they have inspired, and for a long time the sphinxes have asked no questions.”
A Lorrain special, part 2
It’s impossible to understand Jean Lorrain without acknowledging his self-loathing. A masochistic streak led him to provoke the ire of those he admired as much as the objects of his disdain.
A Lorrain special, part 2
It’s impossible to understand Jean Lorrain without acknowledging his self-loathing. A masochistic streak led him to provoke the ire of those he admired as much as the objects of his disdain.
