THE TOYS OF PRINCES by Ghislain...

THE TOYS OF PRINCES by Ghislain de Diesbach, translated from the French by Richard Howard (Turtle Point Press: $12.95; 193 pp., paperback original). Diesbach’s tales of imaginary German courts have a deliciously overcivilized tone reminiscent of the mildly risque novels of the 18th Century. It’s hardly surprising that the author of “The Secrets of the Gotha” would write about a Margravine of Breitenstadt whose fondness for a handsome servant was “not at all compatible with the elevation of her rank,” or the lecherous Grand Dukes of Effingen whose governments were controlled by either the Academy of Pages or the corps de ballet. The characters in these droll romances are never more than puppets who display the author’s wit, but they’re charming puppets.