PFSCL XLIV, 87 (2017) Les Femmes Illustres, or the Book as Triumphal Arch ANNE E. DUGGAN (WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY) In their preface to Les Femmes Illustres (1642), Madeleine and Georges de Scudéry offer their book up as a “triumphal arch” erected to glorify illustrious women from history. 1 The “je” of the “Epître aux dames” states: “Et si l’arc de triomphe, que j’ai élevé à la gloire de votre sexe, n’est pas jugé indigne de vous, ce ne sera pas le dernier ouvrage que j’entreprendrai pour vous” (31). Whereas the first edition verbally posits the book as triumphal arch, it takes visual form in the title page of the second edition, which depicts a distinct triumphal arch that strengthens the opening epistle’s association between literature, architecture, and political space implicit in the notion of book as triumphal arch. This essay explores the implications of presenting Les Femmes Illustres in such terms. The triumphal arch was integrated into royal entries after coronations and conquests, functioning to legitimate the king’s authority and domi- nation over various cities. A temporary structure, the triumphal arch allegorically represented the forces the king had conquered. At the same time that entries with their triumphal arches could be used to reinforce the authority of the king over French cities, city authorities also played an active role in the event by presenting to the king harangues that reaffirmed their rights. 2 The ephemeral nature of the event with its temporary struc- tures, processions, and harangues was made permanent through the printed accounts of the entries, which included illustrations of the triumphal arches. 1 I will not enter into discussion about authorship of Les Femmes Illustres. I will treat the text as one that was co-authored by Madeleine and Georges de Scudéry, foregrounding Madeleine’s role given her lifelong work on the defense of women. 2 In his study of Renaissance entries, Lawrence M. Bryant notes about one entry that the provost of merchants and the first president of Parlement, “within the rhetor- ical form of the harangue [...] also interjected some reminders about older constitutional customs at entries” (54).