Versailles: A Private Invitation

Guillaume Picon, a historian and specialist on the kings of France, has edited a dictionary and published a book on the subject. Francis Hammond's photographs have been published in A Day with Claude Monet in Giverny, Private Houses of France, and Historic Houses of Paris.

The largest château in the world holds a thousand and one secrets, even from those who know it intimately. Versailles has been described in detail since the reign of Louis XIV, but numerous apartments in the palace and its outbuildings are inaccessible to visitors due to their fragility or state of preservation. This new edition includes previously-unseen material on the newly restored Cabinet de la Meridienne, the Salon dAurore, and new, up-close and in-situ details of objects that are not part of the general public circuit. Also included are historical memoirs and letters that provide fascinating insight into life at the palace. From the most renowned rooms to the gardens, passing through the Trianon or the Queens hamlet, Versailles contains many extraordinary details, transformed by light and shadow. Whether its Marie Antoinettes private apartments, the wings of the Queens theater, or even the Orangerie on a beautiful winter day, these singular photographs bring to life a magnificent theater of unrivaled splendor that continues to capture the hearts of visitors and aficionados of France from around the world.