What Belle de Zuylen did in 1763 was inexcusable for a young woman. She wrote a novel.

I discovered Belle de Zuylen (1740 – 1805), Dutch-Swiss writer in the age of Enlightenment (also known as Isabelle de Charriére, Belle van Zuylen, Isabella Elisabeth van Tuyll van Seeroskerken, and Zélide) via James Boswell, the 18th-century biographer (The Life of Samuel Johnson) and diarist.

The second book of Boswell’s papers, Boswell in Holland, included his correspondence with de Zuylen. Boswell, a Scot, was studying law in Holland (Scottish and Dutch law apparently being related) and had made her acquaintance. Read More→