“It is so rare and I would say so wonderful to have friends”, Guizot wrote in October, 1838.
He was very fortunate in this respect, thanks to his extremely sociable personality and took great pains to cultivate these friendships, some of which were to last for decades.
They were composed of two main circles: his close personal friends, of whom there were about fifteen (Such as Achille de Daunant, Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard, Duke Victor de Broglie, Prosper de Barante, Lord Aberdeen, Louis Vitet), and friends who had similar intellectual or political leanings, of whom there were many.
Most importantly, they included both sexes and were conducted differently: his female friendships held a very special place in Guizot’s existence, details of which have been passed on to us in his vast and admirable correspondence.(Laure de Gasparin, Princesse von Lieven, The Duchess of Dino)