21 MARCH 1969, page 17

Against Reason

MARTIN SEYMOUR-SMITH This scholarly and well printed new edition of the poems of one of the most interesting men, and consistently underrated poets, of the seven- teenth century......

Paris In The Age Of Absolutism Orest Ranum (wiley And

Co 75s cloth, 38s paper) New Rome J. H. PLUMB Wandering through a great city creates a sense of the haphazard nature of time : the change of fashion creates decay; its reversal......