Les Oeuvres de Monsieur de Molière

The first complete collected edition and first illustrated edition. The first edition of Dom Garcie de Navarre, L'Impromptu de Versailles, Dom Juan ou le Festin de Pierre, Les Amans magnifiques, and La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas. With thirty copper engraved illustrations by Jean Sauvé after Pierre Brassart, 21 one of which hors texte and 9 included in the pagination.
19th-century red full morocco, Jansenist spines in six compartments, date gilt at foot, double gilt fillets to edges of covers and headpieces, large gilt dentelle frame inside covers, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.
“The first complete edition of the works of Molière, published by the actor Charles Varlet de la Grange, one of Molière's closest companions and secretary of his troupe, as well as another of his friends called Vinot...The publishers made use for this edition of Molière's manuscript texts, more or less corrected by him either according to the needs of performances or publication. This means that the text of 1682 often differs slightly from the separate first editions and the collected edition of 1674....Despite this, it is the text that has most often served as a source for the numerous editions published right up to the present time” (J. Le Petit, Bibliographie des principales éditions originales).
A superb copy of the famous 1682 edition presented in a very elegant binding by Marcelin Lortic.