Charles Perrault, the author of Little Red Writing Hood and other famous fairy tales, was not only a well-known writer in 17th-century France and a leader in the literary Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, but also an important political figure involved in the formation of the great Academies and in the construction of the Louvre and Versailles. His Memoirs give firsthand glimpses of personalities such as Louis XIV, Colbert, and Bernini and illuminate the unique interdependence of art and politics in the age of Louis the Great. In recollected conversations and anecdotes of Perrault's experiences at the French court, this vividly narrated account evokes the spirit of an important moment in French artistic and intellectual life and reveals the personal background of a man whose name is often unrecognized, but whose work has achieved worldwide fame. - Jacket flap.