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OEUVRES DE MOLIÈRE, AVEC DES REMARQUES GRAMMATICALES; DES AVERTISSEMENS ET DES OBSERVATIONS SUR CHAQUE PIÈCE, PAR M. BRET.
(Paris: [Printed by Michel Lambert for] La Compagnie des Libraires Associés, 1773). 198 x 125 mm. (7 3/4 x 5"). Six volumes. Edited by Antoine Bret. First Bret Edition, with additional leaves 66*-67* and 80*-81* in volume I.
Very attractive 19th century maroon morocco, gilt, covers with French fillet border, raised bands, spine compartments with central fleuron, gilt lettering, turn-ins with multiple decorative rolls, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With title page vignettes, engraved portrait after Mignard in volume I, and 33 ENGRAVED PLATES after Moreau le jeune. Front pastedowns with armorial bookplate of the Earl of Cromer engraved by J. F. Badeley and dated 1919; half titles with faded ink signature of Francis Willett. Cohen-de Ricci 716-19; Furstenberg 109; Lewine 363; Tchemerzine VIII, 360; Brunet III, 1798-99. ◆A touch of rubbing to joints and extremities, one leaf with three-inch closed tear into text (no loss), other trivial imperfections in the text, but A VERY ATTRACTIVE SET, UNUSUALLY BRIGHT, FRESH, AND CLEAN INTERNALLY, and with the engravings richly impressed.
This is a handsomely bound set of what Lewine calls a "remarkable" edition both "for the type and for the beauty of the illustrations." In addition to the extensive learned commentary by French playwright Antoine Bret, our copy is enhanced with lively plates illustrating scenes by one of the greatest illustrators of the day, Moreau le jeune (1741-1814). According to the Getty Museum, publishers sought out Moreau "for his powers of observation and ability to capture nuances of gesture, pose, and light." Ray says that the best work by Moreau "showed him to be the equal of the established rococo masters Boucher, Eisen, and Gravelot," and that in his heyday, "he carried all before him." According to Furstenberg, our "Molière is rightly considered one of the masterpieces of illustration in the eighteenth century." And Tchemerzine considers the present edition (with the additional pages numbered 66*-67* and 80*-81* and with signatures very clear on the plates "L'Avare" and "Le Sicilien ou l'amour peintre") the best version of this beautifully illustrated Molière. Under the stage name "Molière," actor and playwright Jean-Baptist Poquelin (1622-73) penned and produced satirical plays--many of which caused considerable scandal--at the Parisian theater now known as the Comédie Française. According to Britannica, "the actor in him influenced his writing, since he wrote (at speed) what he could most naturally act. . . . He is a classical writer, yet he is ready to defy all rules of writing." Former owner Rowland Thomas Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer (1877-1953) was a British soldier and diplomat who served as Lord Chamberlain--the most senior official in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom--from 1922 to 1938, a period that included one of the monarchy's greatest crises, the abdication of Edward VIII. Ownership of our set would have made sense for him, since one of his duties as Lord Chamberlain was deciding which plays would be allowed to be performed in Britain. (ST19794)
Price: $1,950.00