Essay by Stendhal, published anonymously in 1822. Rather chaotically constructed, it purports to be a scientific account of the phases and varieties of love, proposing the famous theory of ‘crystallization’ (whereby love is born of frustration and imagination), distinguishing between ‘amour-passion’, ‘amour de tête’, ‘amour de vanité’, and ‘amour physique’, and discussing national differences in amorous behaviour. In reality it is a deeply personal work, full of coded references to his recent love for Mathilde Dembowski (Métilde): ‘Je tremble de n'avoir écrit qu'un soupir, quand je crois avoir noté une vérité.’
— Peter France
