The Royal We

Pierre-Jean de Béranger (19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) was a prolific French poet and chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the decades following his death. He has been described as “the most popular French songwriter of all time” and “the first superstar […]

Paride da Ceresara (10 February 1466 – 1532) was an Italian humanist, poet, alchemist and astrologer. He was born in Ceresara and was descended from the Ceresara, a noble family. He was in the service of Isabella d’Este in Mantua and came up with the mythological, allegorical and celebratory themes for at least two of […]

Ion Creangă (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon ˈkre̯aŋɡə]; also known as Nică al lui Ștefan a Petrei, Ion Torcălău and Ioan Ștefănescu; March 1, 1837 – December 31, 1889) was a Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th century Romanian literature, he is best known for his Childhood Memories volume, his novellas and short stories, […]

Philaenis of Samos[a] was supposedly the author of a famous ancient sex manual. According to a surviving fragment of a treatise which claims to have been written by her, she was from Samos, and her father was called Ocymenes. However, many modern scholars consider “Philaenis” a fictional character whose persona may have been adopted by […]

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (French: [maʁki də sad]; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814[4]), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts. In his lifetime some of these were published under his own name while others, […]