| Every attempt has been made to replicate the original book as printed.Some typographical errors have been corrected. (a list followsthe text.) No attempt has been made to correct or normalize all of the printed accentuationof names or words in French. (etext transcriber’s note) |
HISTORIC PARIS
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
THE STORY OF THE CHURCHES OF PARIS
LA TOUR DE L’HORLOGE, LES “TOURS POINTUES”
DE LA CONCIERGERIE ET LE MARCHÉ AUX FLEURS
[Frontispiece
HISTORIC PARIS
BY JETTA S. WOLFF
WITH FIFTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXXI
The Mayflower Press, Plymouth, England. William Brendon & Son, Ltd.
TO
LA FRANCE
THE BEAUTIFUL—THE VALOROUS
PREFACE
THIS book, begun many years ago, was laid aside under the stress ofother work, which did not, however, hinder the sedulous amassing ofnotes during my long and continuous residence in Paris. The appearanceof the Marquis de Rochegude’s exhaustive work, on somewhat the samelines in a more extensive compass, took me by surprise, and I thoughtfor a moment that it would render my book superfluous. The vastconcourse of English-speaking people brought hither by the great war,people keen to learn the history of the beautiful old buildings theyfind here on every side, made me understand that an English book ofrelatively small compass was needed, and I set to work to finish thevolume planned and begun so long ago.
I had made the personal acquaintance and consequent notes of most of theancient “Stones of Paris” before looking up published notes concerningthem. When such notes were looked up, I can only say their sources werefar too numerous and too scattered to be recorded here. I must beg everyone who may have published anything worth while on Old Paris to receivemy thanks, for I have doubtless read their writings with interest andbenefit. But I must offer special thanks to M. de Rochegude,for—writing under pressure to get the book ready for press—his workas a reference book, while pursuing my own investigations, has beeninvaluable.
To my readers I would say peruse what I have written, but use your owneyes, your own keen observation for learning much more than could benoted here. Look into every courtyard in the ancient quarters, lookattentively at every dwelling along the old winding streets, and failnot to look up to their roofs. The roofs are never alike.