La Carte de Tendre or the Map of the country of Tenderness made its debut in the first volume of Madeleine De Scudery's novel CLELIE (1654). It is a map of the mythical country of Tenderness, which is also a metaphor for Mlle. De Scudery's heart and for her Salon. As a salon game that soon became the rage in 17th cent. Parisian salon society, it can be viewed as a precursor of many board games, and, one might also claim that it foreshadows certain contemporary computer games. However, I see it more as a map of Mlle. De Scudery's desire, and of the emotional geography of the territory of her political ambition and her sexual imagination.