Information
Paris, Pierre Prault, 1734. 6 volumes in 4°. Portrait of Molière on the frontispiece, engraved vignette on the title page. Contemporary full leather binding, boards framed by three gilt fillets, spines with 5 raised bands with phytomorphic motifs impressed in gold, title in a red leather insert, minor defects. FIRST ISSUE, with the incorrect spelling of the word “Comtesse” in vol. VI, p. 360, line 12
Specialist Notes
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND SOPHISTICATED EDITIONS OF MOLIERE.
A beautiful copy in its period binding of this excellent edition of Molière, illustrated with Boucher's superb plates, described by Cohen-de Ricci as one of the “plus beaux livres de la première partie du XVIII siècle”. Calot confirms that the illustrations are “the triumph of a genre to which one regrets Boucher did not remain faithful for longer: the rendering of the manners of his time and of their elegance”. Molière's text is presented with unprecedented care and the full-page plates, masterfully drawn, represent the pinnacle of Boucher's work as a painter in book illustration. As Ray observes, “Boucher makes a relative transformation in the spirit of Molière's comedies. this is a Molière of the eighteenth century”. Although the plate of each of the thirty-three comedies does indeed suggestively depict the main action, Boucher emphasizes neither the comic mastery nor the moral seriousness of his author. In his eyes, Alceste, Harpagon, and Tartuffe are less interesting than the younger characters, whose grace and coquetry he displays with admiration; and his best drawings are usually prompted by the less strenuous efforts of the playwright. Even in illustrating Molière, Boucher was still “the painter of the Graces”.
A beautiful copy in its period binding of this excellent edition of Molière, illustrated with Boucher's superb plates, described by Cohen-de Ricci as one of the “plus beaux livres de la première partie du XVIII siècle”. Calot confirms that the illustrations are “the triumph of a genre to which one regrets Boucher did not remain faithful for longer: the rendering of the manners of his time and of their elegance”. Molière's text is presented with unprecedented care and the full-page plates, masterfully drawn, represent the pinnacle of Boucher's work as a painter in book illustration. As Ray observes, “Boucher makes a relative transformation in the spirit of Molière's comedies. this is a Molière of the eighteenth century”. Although the plate of each of the thirty-three comedies does indeed suggestively depict the main action, Boucher emphasizes neither the comic mastery nor the moral seriousness of his author. In his eyes, Alceste, Harpagon, and Tartuffe are less interesting than the younger characters, whose grace and coquetry he displays with admiration; and his best drawings are usually prompted by the less strenuous efforts of the playwright. Even in illustrating Molière, Boucher was still “the painter of the Graces”.
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