18th-century French literature classic example is "Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane" by Alain-René Lesage (1715). The novel of the imagination pictured life centuries in the future; "L'An 2440, rêve s'il en fut jamais" (The year 2440 - dream of all dreams) by Mercier (1771); or stories of fantasy "le Diable amoureux" (The Devil in Love) of Jacques Cazotte (1772). The libertine, or erotic novel, featured eroticism, seduction, manipulation, and social intrigue. Classic examples are "Les Liaisons dangereuses" ("Dangerous Liaisons") by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782); ("Justine ou les Malheurs de la vertu" ("Justine or the misfortunes of virtue") by Donatien Alphonse François
Paris in the 18th century they were well connected, could expect to command a regiment by the time they were only twenty-five. The children of the nobility attended the most select schools in Paris; the "Collège de Clermont", and especially the Jesuit college of "Louis-le-Grand". In addition to their academic courses, they were taught fencing and horsemanship. At the beginning of the 18th century, most of the noble families had their large "hôtels particuliers", or town houses, in the Marais neighborhood, but over the course of the century they moved to the neighborhoods of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, near the "Palais Royal", and especially to the