Molière | Œuvres de J.-B. P. Molière, tome premier, Paris, 1664, contemporary calf gilt

Molière

Œuvres de J.-B. P. Molière, Tome premier. Paris: Gabriel Quinet, 1664

Volume 1 (only, of 2), 12mo (150 x 89 mm), 5 engraved woodcut vignettes, woodcut head pieces, contemporary mottled calf gilt, spines gilt with raised bands in six compartments with foliate motifs, red speckled edges, marginal wormhole in gatherings A and B, not affecting text, edges and spine expertly restored, extremities slightly rubbed

AN EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION OF MOLIERE'S COLLECTED WORKS AND THE ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE EARLIEST KNOWN VARIANT OF THIS EDITION, published by Gabriel Quinet in 1664. We have only traced one other copy of this edition at auction (at ALDE on 11th December 2007, lot 103); each copy, however, is compositionally unique, with the present copy containing an earlier edition of Sganarelle. This is therefore the earliest known collection of Molière's works published by Quinet, containing four comedies:

(1) L'Estourdy ou les contre-temps. Paris: Gabriel Quinet, 1663. FIRST EDITION, variant B.

Guibert identifies two variants of the first edition, with variant B rectifying several printing errors found in variant A. [Guibert I, pp. 94-7]

(2) Dépit amoureux. Paris: Gabriel Quinet, 1663. FIRST EDITION.

The first edition of Dépit amoureux had only one print run. [Guibert I, pp. 108-9]

(3) Les Précieuses ridicules. Paris: Gabriel Quinet, 1663. SECOND EDITION.

This particular edition of Les Précieuses ridicules, published by Gabriel Quinet, is extremely scarce; the most common variant is published by Claude Barbin. [Guibert I, pp. 25-6]

(4) Sganarelle ou le Cocu imaginaire. Paris: Augustin Courbé, 1662. UNRECORDED EDITION.

This appears to be the only extant printing of this early edition of Sganarelle; the 1662 edition by Courbé has not been previously recorded outside of this copy.

Many collected volumes were later taken apart and the plays rebound separately; collected works of Molière are therefore rarely found in a contemporary binding [Rahir]. This, along with the early editions of the plays themselves, makes the present copy a true rarity.

Three similar editions of Molière's collected works were published in Paris between 1663 and 1664 [Guibert II, pp. 556-9]. Known as "éditions collectives factices", these collections were published without the playwright's permission, as suggested by the lack of privilège, and are remarkably rare, with each copy combining four separately printed plays into a single volume. Quinet, the publisher of the present copy, is the only one known to include first editions in his volumes. As each volume was a compilation of early editions of plays kept by their printers, each copy differed from the last, with each play retaining its original title page and pagination. Such details distinguish the present copy from the true collected editions, first issued in 1666 by the same publishers responsible for the "éditions factices".

LITERATURE:

Lacroix I, 265; Rahir, “Molière à la Comédie Française et chez les bibliophiles”, Bulletin du bibliophile, 1922, pp. 11-23: 14; Riffaud, Répertoire du théâtre français imprimé 1600-1699, 6437; Tchemerzine IV, p. 820