Nineteenth Century Biography of the Chevalier d’Éon Diplomat Soldier and Gender Nonconforming Figure in Enlightenment France.

Chevalier D'Eon

Book

Un Hermaphrodite by Louis Jourdan examines the life of the Chevalier d’Éon, an eighteenth century French diplomat, soldier, and intelligence agent whose public identity challenged conventional understandings of gender in European society. The book recounts the career of Charles Geneviève Louis Auguste André Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont, who served the French crown in diplomatic and military roles while later living publicly as a woman in London and Paris. During the eighteenth century d’Éon’s gender identity became a subject of international curiosity and debate, and their life intersected with the political networks of French diplomacy and espionage. Jourdan’s biography situates d’Éon within the culture and politics of late ancien régime France while presenting the figure as both an accomplished state servant and an individual whose gender presentation defied prevailing social norms.

Jourdan, Louis. Un Hermaphrodite. Paris: E. Dentu, 1861. Second edition. First published in 1836, the work provides a narrative account of d’Éon’s diplomatic missions, military service, and later life in England and France. The author describes the Chevalier as “un savant distingué, un militaire intrépide, un diplomate d’une habileté consommée,” characterizing the figure as a distinguished scholar, courageous soldier, and skilled diplomat. The text recounts d’Éon’s service in the French dragoon regiments and involvement with the clandestine diplomatic network known as le Secret du Roi, through which agents carried out sensitive political missions for the French monarchy in locations including Russia and England. Jourdan also presents d’Éon as an unusual personality within the social world of pre revolutionary France, describing the individual as “un des éléments les plus pittoresques de cette société frivole que le coup de tonnerre de 1789 devait si brusquement réveiller.”

Nineteenth century interest in d’Éon’s life reflected broader fascination with figures whose gender identity and public roles challenged established categories of male and female. The Chevalier’s career in diplomacy and espionage combined with a later public identity as a woman produced one of the most widely discussed gender controversies of the eighteenth century, and biographies such as Jourdan’s helped preserve the historical record of that life for later readers. 304 pages. Half dark green glazed calf over marbled boards with raised bands and gilt decoration on the spine, marbled endpapers and edges. 12mo measuring approximately 188 x 118 mm. Light rubbing to boards with clean interior pages; overall very good condition. The volume provides a nineteenth century biographical interpretation of one of the most historically documented figures associated with gender nonconformity in early modern Europe.

Item #22244

Price: $1,250.00