In the years preceding the French Revolution, the reputation of Queen Marie Antoinette was severely harmed by the publication of details relating to a certain "scandal," involving a Roman Cardinal, a Royal jeweler, and an unscrupulous young woman looking for wealth and prestige. Carlyle, in his typical, wonderfully colorful prose, relates the tale of "The Diamond Necklace" for posterity in this small volume. In his own words: "My attempt was to make reality ideal; there is considerable significance in that notion of mine, and I have not yet seen the limit of it, nor shall till I have tried to go as far as it will carry me. The story of the Diamond Necklace is all told in that paper with the strictest fidelity, yet in a kind of musical way." - Summary by E. Sharp