{"product_id":"the-epistolary-art-of-catherine-the-great-9781789620078","title":"The Epistolary Art of Catherine the Great","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Epistolary Art of Catherine the Great\u003c\/i\u003e is the first study to analyse comprehensively the letters of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (reigned 1762-1796) and to argue that they constitute a masterpiece of eighteenth-century epistolary writing.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eIn this book, Kelsey Rubin-Detlev traces Catherine’s development as a letter-writer, her networking strategies, and her image-making, demonstrating the centrality of ideas, literary experimentation, and manipulation of material form evident in Catherine’s epistolary practice. Through this, Rubin-Detlev illustrates how Catherine’s letters reveal her full engagement with the Enlightenment and further show how creatively she absorbed and responded to the ideas of her century. \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThe letter was not merely a means by which the empress promoted Russia and its leader as European powers; it was a literary genre through which Catherine expressed her identity as a member of the social, political, and intellectual elite of her century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'The monograph truly brings to life the complexity of Catherine’s voice as reflected in her letter writing art as it evolved over decades. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the cultural history of the eighteenth century, and an inspiring example of cultural and literary analysis of epistolary heritage.'\u003cbr\u003eAmerican Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL), from their 2020 book awards.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The book exhibits great imagination in the range of skills Rubin-Detlev  demonstrates in spanning the broad historical grasp, theorisations of the letter genre and of gender construction as well as a fine sense of nuance when teasing out subtleties of evolving word usage or cliché, the nuances of Catherine’s switching between languages, and textual detail.  All of these facets are seamlessly integrated with an engaging and imaginative writing style especially impressive in a first book.'\u003cbr\u003eProf. Judith Pallot (Christ Church, Oxford) and Prof. Jeremy Hicks (Queen Mary University of London), judges of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Alexander Nove Prize 2019.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Kelsey Rubin-Detlev’s monograph... constitutes an important contribution to the study of the sources of the time of Catherine II.’ Aleksandr Lavrov, \u003cem\u003eCahiers du Monde russe\u003c\/em\u003e (translated from French)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eList of illustrations\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgements\u003cbr\u003eList of abbreviations\u003cbr\u003eNote on dates, quotations and transliteration                                    \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Catherine the Great, letter-writing and the elite Enlightenment\u003cbr\u003eThe letters of Catherine the Great\u003cbr\u003eThe elite Enlightenment of Catherine the Great\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 1: Catherine the epistolarian\u003cbr\u003eCatherine’s epistolary education: 1742-1762\u003cbr\u003eCatherine’s début: 1762-1774\u003cbr\u003eIn transition: 1774-1781\u003cbr\u003eMastery: 1781-1789\u003cbr\u003eAn Enlightenment monarch in a Revolutionary  world: 1789-1796\u003cbr\u003eCatherine’s epistolary geography\u003cbr\u003eCatherine and her contemporaries\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 2: Catherine the Great and eighteenth-century epistolary style\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eettres galantes\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eettres familières\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ePortrait and narrative letters\u003cbr\u003eLove letters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 3: Fashioning the great Enlightenment monarch\u003cbr\u003eGender and epistolary self-fashioning\u003cbr\u003eCatherine’s image as an Enlightenment intellectual\u003cbr\u003eFashioning greatness\u003cbr\u003eThe correct exercise of military might\u003cbr\u003eCompensating for military heroism: flourishing provinces\u003cbr\u003ePatronage of the arts and sciences\u003cbr\u003eEthical greatness\u003cbr\u003eThe legislator\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 4: The play of authority in epistolary form\u003cbr\u003eAuthority and linguistic mastery\u003cbr\u003eAuthority and writing practices\u003cbr\u003eEpistolary etiquette\u003cbr\u003ePaper use\u003cbr\u003eDatelines\u003cbr\u003eSalutations\u003cbr\u003eClosers\u003cbr\u003eForegoing etiquette\u003cbr\u003eAffection-seeking formulae\u003cbr\u003ePostscripts\u003cbr\u003eSignatures, addresses and attachments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 5: Epistolary publicity and the audience for Catherine’s correspondences\u003cbr\u003eThe injunction against publication\u003cbr\u003eBuilding reputation through networks of epistolary sociability\u003cbr\u003eManaging celebrity through epistolary circulation\u003cbr\u003eFrom reputation to glory: writing for posterity by addressing \u003ci\u003egens de mérite\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 6: Greatness contested: Catherine’s epistolary response to the French Revolution\u003cbr\u003eChronology of Catherine’s epistolary actions against the French Revolution\u003cbr\u003eOld and new in Catherine’s epistolary style\u003cbr\u003eGreatness contested: confronting the past\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: new readers and new ways of reading Catherine’s letters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBibliography of works cited\u003cbr\u003eArchival sources\u003cbr\u003eEditions of Catherine’s letters\u003cbr\u003eSecondary sources: English\u003cbr\u003eSecondary sources: French\u003cbr\u003eSecondary sources: Russian\u003cbr\u003eSecondary sources: German\u003cbr\u003eSecondary sources: Italian\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndex    \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Liverpool University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51042587443543,"sku":"9781789620078","price":98.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781789620078.jpg?v=1750954758","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-epistolary-art-of-catherine-the-great-9781789620078","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}