Fashion beyond Versailles: Consumption and Design in Seventeenth-Century France

Acknowledgments

ix Acknowledgments This book started years ago in the archives of Grenoble, while I was there to work on a different project. I was examining a series of seventeenthcentury household inventories in order to gain a sense of the wealth of noble families. These sorts of inventories, prepared by notaries at the death of a testator, have become the stock of material culture studies. I was soon captivated by the contents of these families’ residences; I felt as if I were the ultimate interloper, and I relished it! In reading the detailed lists and descriptions of the objects that filled noble homes, I wondered more and more about how families actually lived with their possessions, how these objects shaped their daily lives, and how they used them to define themselves . And so this book began in the archives and with the inventories; only later did I set out in search of the literature to help me understand my documents. I am indebted to the staffs of the Archives Départementales de l’Isère and the Bibliothèque Municipale de Grenoble. Back in the United States, the production of this project benefited enormously from the support of Auburn University, in particular the History Department. My department chairs, Bill Trimble, Tony Carey, and Charles Israel, arranged my schedule to give me time in the archives and allow for blocks of time in which to write. My cherished colleagues, Daniel Szechi and Ralph Kingston, listened cheerfully and never failed to offer invaluable suggestions. Christopher Ferguson was a gold mine of bibliographic suggestions , especially pertaining to early modern Britain. Joseph Kicklighter was, as always, my stalwart mentor and friend. I also want to thank my acquisitions editor at LSU Press, Alisa Plant. I first met her at a meeting of the Southern Historical Association in Birmingham , Alabama. She was quick to express real interest in the project x Acknowledgments and never gave up on it or me, this despite my innumerable delays and pleadings for extra time. Teresa Rodriguez cheerfully worked with little notice to produce her inspired interpretations of period furnishings. They are wonderful. And I am indebted to my copy editor, Grace Carino, who painstakingly corrected and edited my manuscript. Finally, much gratitude goes to those who were there day in and day out, my family. My parents, Donald and Jean Bohanan, have always supported me in every way they can, not the least of which is reminding me of my deadlines and my tragic tendency to procrastinate! My sister and brother-in-law, Cindy and Paul Ackermann, took me into their Swiss home weekend after weekend and sent me renewed and reenergized on Sunday evenings back to the archives in Grenoble. I owe no greater debt than to Frank Smith, my husband, who held down the fort and took care of Sutyi, Axel, and Nola while I was absent from home for long periods. As always, he proofread and edited this manuscript in his incisive and dramatic manner. Finally, my sisters, Cindy and Lindy, inspired this project. From Arkansas to Switzerland, in brocantes, flea markets, and antique shows, they revealed to me the thrill of the hunt. This book is for them. Fashion beyond Versailles This page intentionally left blank ...