Honoré d'Urfé wrote only one novel, but he is still considered one of the most important novelists of the seventeenth century. He is the author of L'Astrée (1607-1627; translated as Astrea, 1657-1658), a vast novel of several thousand pages, which had considerable influence throughout the century and beyond. Later admirers included Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who knew the novel quite well. The work, composed over a period of approximately twenty years, lastingly marked sensibilities, established fashion, and captured the imagination of countless readers. The novel touches on many subjects, including love, friendship, ambition, war, tyranny, and the origin of the French people. A vast learnedness permeates the entire story, which is replete with diverse philosophical theories and multiple historical references. L'Astrée also made its mark on language and style, and d'Urfé displays great virtuosity in holding the reader's attention throughout the considerable length...