Marie de Sévigné

Marie de Sévigné was a prolific and gifted letter writer. Her correspondence with her daughter—comprising more than 1,700 letters—vividly depicts daily life and customs at the court of Louis XIV and conveys personal, literary, and social concerns. Her elegantly composed letters were eventually circulated and read as texts, even though they did not conform to epistolary models in fashion when Sévigné was writing. Her letters were published posthumously, in 1725 and 1735–54.