Tag: Valeria Messalina

Front facade of Houghton Library

Lasciviousness, libel, and letters

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection. As the French Revolution erupted in 1789, the bourgeoisie took up a variety of arms against the aristocracy; among them was literature. Pictured here from the Santo Domingo Collection is La Messaline françoise, a libelous account, published under…