In full red morocco by Duhayon - MOLIÈRE.... - Lot 22 - Les ventes Damien Voglaire SRL

Lot 22
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400 - 600 EUR
In full red morocco by Duhayon - MOLIÈRE.... - Lot 22 - Les ventes Damien Voglaire SRL
In full red morocco by Duhayon - MOLIÈRE. La Princesse d'Élide, a comedy by Mollière [sic]. Together Les Plaisirs de l'Isle enchantée. Suivant la Copie imprimée, à Paris, 1684, small in-12, frontispiece, 108 p., including title, bound in full red morocco by Duhayon, pinched ribbed spine, gilt title and date, gilt fillet on the edges, gilt edges, case lined with the same, cover of the binding preserved. Rare reprint of the 1674 Elzevirian edition. La Princesse d'Élide is a gallant comedy, mixed with music and ballet entries, in five acts by Molière, first performed at Versailles on May 8, 1664 as part of the sumptuous "Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée" festival. It was then given to the public at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on November 9, 1664 by Molière's troupe, then called the troupe of Monsieur, the King's only brother. Although it consisted of five acts, the play was unfinished and Molière did not bother to finish it when it was revived in the autumn: "He had, it is true, three works in progress: Le Misanthrope, which he had already begun, Le Tartuffe, which he was thinking of transforming into a comedy in five acts, if he had not begun to do so, and Le Festin de Pierre, which was due to be premiered in February of the following year." During Molière's lifetime, the play was not published separately but was included in the official relation of the Versailles festivities printed by the King's Printer in the autumn of 1664, in an in-folio book adorned with nine plates engraved by Israël Sylvestre and entitled Les Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée. Course de bague, collation ornée de Machines, Comédie de Molière intitulée La Princesse d'Élide, mêlée de danse et de musique..., which was republished in 1665 and 1673 in octavo format, without illustrations. The 1673 edition is available on Gallica. As the play was unfinished and accompanied by arguments, later editions would continue to include this play in the same set, including the complete edition of 1824. It was not until a century later that some publishers began to extract the play as a stand-alone edition.
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