MOLIERE. - Lot 90

MOLIERE. Title: *Le Tartuffe, or The Impostor*. A comedy by J. B. P. de Molière. Description: Paris, printed at the author’s expense; sold by Jean Ribou, 1669. In-16, (11) ff. (title page, preface, Privilege and Completed, cast list), 96 pp., vignette on the title page, 2 headbands and 2 initials, all woodcuts. Sturdy, old-style sewn vellum binding, handwritten title on the spine, edges speckled with red (anecdotal stains scattered throughout the binding, an ex libris likely torn from the front endpaper, very slight oxidation of the paper). Note: A very rare first edition published for the play’s official premiere. Printed on March 23, 1669, and “Printed at the author’s expense.” The second edition appeared two months after the performance, with the “printed” date of June 6, 1669, and featured a frontispiece that does not, in fact, exist in this edition. There are known variations of the title page, which was subject to counterfeiting (Guibert). In order to maintain control over its distribution, Molière did not immediately transfer his printing privilege to his bookseller and financed the first edition himself. A fine copy. A comedy in verse, the first three acts of which had been performed during a grand celebration at Versailles on May 12, 1664, the “Plaisirs de l’Ile enchantée,” hosted by the king for Louise de La Vallière. Molière was targeting the “false devout.” But since they had founded, under the auspices of the Queen Mother, Bossuet, and President Lamoignon, “La Compagnie du Saint Sacrement,” Louis XIV banned the play, which was blocked several times, until the Peace of the Church was declared by Clement IX and religious controversies came to an end— even if this had to be achieved at the cost of toning down the virulence of the verses. Long awaited, the play, finally performed on February 5, 1669, was Molière’s triumph. Old sales label on a flyleaf, dated with an old annotation, “vedi cat Morgand 1887,” probably from the Bulletin Morgand. The dimensions listed correspond exactly to this copy. Bound with: -XENOPHON. Xenophon’s Symposium, in the version by Mr. LeFevre. In Saumur, & sold in Paris, at Thomas Jolly’s, 1670. (11)-134 pp. Good copy. -[GILBERT Gabriel, attributed to]. The Perfect Courtier. Tragicomedy. By Monsieur D. G. L. B. T. In Grenoble, published by Jean Nicolas, 1668. (4)-78 pp. Bibliography: Guibert, I, 257–261: “This lesson in higher morality, this satire of religious hypocrisy and hypocrisy in general, suddenly appearing amid games, dances, the most diverse pleasures, in the most frivolous and touchy society in the world, was bound to provoke not only surprise but also a terrible uproar.” Tchemerzine, IV, 786.