The Princess of Cleves »

John D. Lyons is Commonwealth Professor of French at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1987; he was previously professor of French and Italian at Dartmouth College. He is the author of A Theatre of Disguise, The Listening Voice, and Exemplum. He co-edited Mimesis: From Mirror to Method, The Dialectic of Discovery, and Critical Tales: New Studies of the Heptameron and Early Modern Culture.

The Princess of Clèves, often called the first modern French novel, was published anonymously in 1678 and was received with enthusiasm by its contemporary audience.