Originally published in 1925. this is an edition of the highly regarded seventeenth-century novel by Madame de La Fayette, La Princesse de Cleves. The complete text of the 1678 first edition is presented here in the original French, with accompanying English annotations by Harry Ashton. In addition to the notes, Ashton provides an English introduction to the book, discussing aspects of the author's life and works and examining the sources, characters, style and influence of the novel. Thanks to the economy of the vocabulary and the usefulness of the notes, this volume will be particularly welcome by students of French as well as anyone eager to read a popular classic of seventeenth-century French literature.