Monsieur d'Eon Is a Woman: A Tale of Political Intrigue and Sexual Masquerade » (1st Edition)

Gary Kates is dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs at Pomona College. He is co-editor and translator, with Roland A. Champagne and Nina Ekstein, of The Maiden of Tonnerre: The Vicissitudes of the Chevalier and the Chevalière d'Eon, also available from Johns Hopkins.

Born in 1728, French aristocrat Charles d'Eon de Beaumont had served his country as a diplomat, soldier, and spy for fifteen years when rumors that he was a woman began to circulate in the courts of Europe. D'Eon denied nothing and was finally compelled by Louis XVI to give up male attire and live as a woman, something d'Eon did without complaint for the next three decades. Although celebrated as one of the century's most remarkable women, d'Eon was revealed, after his death in 1810, to have been unambiguously male. Gary Kates's acclaimed biography of d'Eon recreates eighteenth-century European society in brilliant detail and offers a compelling portrait of an individual who challenged its conventions about gender and identity.

Author Biography:
Gary Kates is dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs at Pomona College. He is co-editor and translator, with Roland A. Champagne and Nina Ekstein, of The Maiden of Tonnerre: The Vicissitudes of the Chevalier and the Chevalière d'Eon, also available from Johns Hopkins.

Nation

A terrific tale, told with suspense and style and interpreted with wisdom and restraint.

Contents:

Prologue: The Discovery

Introduction

Part I: A French Chevaliere

Chapter 1: Maiden Voyage

Chapter 2: Foreign Minister Vergennes

Chapter 3: Tonnerre

Chapter 4: D'Eon's Patrons

Chapter 5: Rose Bertin

Chapter 6: Marie-Antoinette

Chapter 7: Franklin and Voltaire

Chapter 8: Public Perceptions

Chapter 9: D'Eon on d'Eon

Chapter 10: The Hopes of a Good Portrait

Part II: The Rise and Fall of a Statesman

Chapter 11: Louis XV's Diplomacy

Chapter 12: The King's Secret

Chapter 13: Conti and Russia

Chapter 14: The Russian Myth Reexamined

Chapter 15: Diplomacy in Russia

Chapter 16: Dragoon Captain

Chapter 17: Making Peace

Chapter 18: The Secret in England

Chapter 19: Reversal of Fortune

Chapter 20: Recalled

Chapter 21: D'Eon to Louis XV and Broglie

Chapter 22: Broglie to Louis XV

Chapter 23: Scapegoat

Chapter 24: The "Lettres, memoires, et negociations"

Chapter 25: Libel

Chapter 26: Indictment

Chapter 27: Royal Decree of 1 April 1766Part III: Inside d'Eon's Librar

yChapter 28: D'Eon to Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Chapter 29: Rousseau's Disciple

Chapter 30: D'Eon's Library

Chapter 31: Pompadour and La Pucelle

Chapter 32: Contra Rousseau

Part IV: The Transformatio

nChapter 33: Contexts

Chapter 34:Rumors

Chapter 35: Drouet's Visit

Chapter 36: Macauley, d'Espinay, and the "Femme Savante"

Chapter 37: Hannah Snell and the Amazons

Chapter 38: Morande

Chapter 39: Louis XVI

Chapter 40: The Letter to Poissonier

Chapter 41: The Transaction

Chapter 42: Beaumarchais Bets

Chapter 43: Beaumarchais "To Mlle Genev. L. Deon de Beaumont"

Chapter 44: D'Eon to Beaumarchais

Chapter 45: D'Eon Sues Morande

Chapter 46: Lord Mansfield's Court

Part V: D'Eon's Christian Feminis

mChapter 47: Considering Convents

Chapter 48: Reborn Again

Chapter 49: Return to England

Chapter 50: Gendered Theology

Chapter 51: Christian Feminist

Notes

Bibliography of Works By and About d'Eon