Mlle de Scuderi

E. T. A. Hoffmann's novella, Mademoiselle de Scudéri: A Tale from the Times of Louis XIV, was first published in 1819 in Yearbook for 1820. The novella still is widely regarded as one of Hoffmann's best, not only because of its exciting, suspenseful plot and interesting descriptions of life, places, and people in late 17th-century Paris but also because of the many different levels of interpretation that it allows. The action takes place in Paris during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. The city is under siege by what is presumed to be an organized band of thieves whose members rob citizens of costly jewelry in their homes or on the street.