p 55 | A French
cour d'assises or Assize Court is a criminal trial court with limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accused of major felonies or indictable offences, or crimes in French, and one of the few to be decided by jury trial.
p 56 | Hyperthermia is overheating of the body.Heat stroke (or sun stroke) is a form of hyperthermia. Sudation = sweating.
p 58 | The Quai d’Orsay is part of the left bank of the Seine, as well as the name of the street along it. The
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located there and is often called the "Quai d'Orsay."
p 59 |
La Presse was founded in 1836 by Émile de Girardin as a popular conservative enterprise. While other papers depended heavily on subscription & close party affiliation,
La Presse was sold by street vendors.
Street-arabs are homeless children who survive by begging and stealing; urchins.
Jacobin: During the French Revolution, a supporter of left-wing revolutionary opinions.
p 61 | Bourbonesque refers to the
House of Bourbon, a European royal house (family) of French origin.
p 62 |
Bernhard von Bülow (1849–1929), was a German statesman who served as Chancellor of the German Empire (1900-09) and married an Italian,
Maria Beccadelli di Bologna, Marchesa di Altavilla, Principessa di Camporeale (1848-1929).
Pincio: hill terrace in Rome.
p 62 | ..."eminent French diplomat... John Sturrock 518 writes that this is
Maurice Paléologue (1859–1944), a French diplomat, historian, and essayist. Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orléans (
Princess Palatine) was described as stolid and mannish, with the stamina to hunt all day. She walked too rapidly for most courtiers to keep up, save the king.
p 66 | References to Act 2 of Wagner's opera
Tannhäuser.
 |
| Dresden china plates |
p 77 | Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (1847–1909), the second son of Tsar Alexander II; he spent long periods in Paris with his wife, Maria Pavlovna, who appears in the final volume of the novel (Sturrock notes).
