Sodom and Gomorrah IV pp 492-514

p 492 | The Arrachepels were a noble family whose seat was near Illiers/ Combray. (Sturrock note)

Campanile

p 493 | blazon=a correct description of armorial bearings. 

p 493 | La Fontaine wrote a fable called The Camel and the Floating Sticks.

p 493 | campanile= a tall tower with a bell in it.

p 494 | Molière’s word = cuckold (derived from the cuckoo bird, alluding to its habit of laying its eggs in other birds' nests.)

p 499 | tableau vivant: ("living picture"): a group of suitably costumed actors or models, carefully posed and often theatrically lit. Throughout the duration of the display, the people shown do not speak or move.

p 499 | Maréchal d'Huxelles: Nicolas Chalon du Blé, marquis d'Uxelles and Cormatin (1652–1730) was a French general and Foreign Minister. And a homosexual.

p 502 | peritonitis = Inflammation of the membrane lining the abdominal wall and covering the abdominal organs.

p 504 | In the 17th century, the Abbey of Port-Royal became the center of Jansenism, whose adherents believed the Augustinian doctrine that Grace was a free gift from God, not necessarily related to the virtue of those receiving it. (Sturrock note)

p 508 | double-six; David=King David=King of Spades. 

p 510 | à frigore spasms: Appelée "à frigore" car jadis on pensait que le froid était la cause de la maladie (called à frigore because formerly it was thought that cold caused the condition). May be what currently is known as Bell's palsy.

p 511 | Refers to a medieval legend, whereby Virgil having created a miraculous curative spa near Naples, the jealous doctors of Salerno set out in a boat to destroy it; the boat was destroyed in a storm, as retribution from divine Providence. (Sturrock note)

p 514 | End of the Verdurin party.

Sodom and Gomorrah IV pp 456-70

p 456 | Banat;  Louis d'Harcourt; Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1755-1826): French lawyer and politician, who gained fame as an epicure and gastronome; sibylline = referring to certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination; a female prophet or witch.

p 457 | Piquet=an early 16th-century trick-taking card game for two players. The river Dives runs through Cabourg (Balbec), this is the church by the river, Notre Dame de Dives sur mer.

p 459 | daubing: to coat or smear (a surface) with a thick or sticky substance in a carelessly rough way. 

p 459 | Paul César Helleu (1859-1927): French oil painter, pastel artist, drypoint etcher, and designer, best known for numerous portraits of beautiful society women of the Belle Époque. He also conceived the ceiling mural of night sky constellations for Grand Central Terminal in NYC. Father of Jean Helleu, grandfather of Jacques Helleu, both artistic directors for Parfums Chanel. 

Jouy

p 460 | French strawberry mousse recipe.

p 463 | See a summary of these pages here, with comments.
 
p 466 | "a piece of green lustre plugging a broken pane...": a drop-shaped piece of cut glass or crystal used as a decoration on a chandelier, vase, etc. Or, a shiny metallic surface on some pottery and porcelain.

p 467 | Jouy hangings=toile de Jouy: cloth or canvas for painting on. draught-curtains are used to prevent heat loss from a room, due to drafts or weather. 

p 468 | A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat) is a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer. The small shelves were available for use at times when the folding chair was required to be stored folded up, and the person expected to be in an upright position.

"Boston Stump misericord 02" by Immanuel Giel (Own work). Public Domain via Commons License

 p 468 | Agraphia: loss of the ability to write.

p 470 | "this Hohenzollern ... : with the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1918, the Hohenzollern dynasty of German emperors came to an end. The short-lived kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866, and its last King was indeed dispossessed, but by Kaiser Wilhelm I, not his son. Prussia annexed Alsace-Lorraine from France following its victory in the 1870 war. (Sturrock)