Louis Philippe, King of the French (1773–1850)

A slight but appealing volume made up, in part, of a diary meticulously kept by Louis-Philippe, king of France from 1830 to 1848. Covering the period 25 March to 21 May 1797, the diary provides a partial report of a horseback journey into the backcountry of the southern central United States by twenty-three-year-old Louis-Philippe during the early years of what became a twenty-two-year exile from France after the Revolution. With his one servant and two younger brothers, ages twenty-two and seventeen, the impoverished royal traveled simply, undergoing the privations that confronted all visitors to this undeveloped region. His detailed reporting, on subjects ranging from the cost of hard-to-come-by foodstuffs to the flirtatiousness of Indian women, provides fascinating insights into early America and the personality of the future “Citizen King” of France.… (more)