[Rarebooks] fa: VOLTAIRE - THEATRE DE PIERRE CORNEILLE 1764 - First ed./12 vols.

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, January 21. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/jd7vk5m

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain


Pierre Corneille, [Voltaire, ed.:] Theatre de Pierre Corneille, avec des commentaires, &c. &c. &c. [Geneva: Cramer,] 1764. First edition thus. Twelve volumes, small 8vo (20 cm), in full early/period goatskin with gilt-tooled borders and spine decorations, page edges dyed red, marbled endpapers; VOL. I: [6], 454, [2] pp.; VOL. II: [12], 413, [5], 9, [5] pp.; VOL. III: [4], 510, [4] pp.; VOL. IV: [4], 482, [2] pp.; VOL. V: [4], 429, [3] pp.; VOL. VI: [4], 442, [2] pp.; VOL. VII: [4], 467, [1] pp.; VOL. VIII: [4], 388, [2] pp.; VOL. IX: [4], 443, [3] pp. VOL. X: [4], 495, [3] pp.; VOL. XI: [4], 498, [2] pp.; VOL. XII: [4], 355, [1], 47, [3] pp. With the half-titles, the supplement to vol. II, and the list of subscribers at the end of vol. XII; engraved frontispiece after Pierre and 34 engraved plates after Gravelot (complete). Brunet II, 281; Cohen-De Ricci 255.

The first edition of Corneille's plays with the commentaries by Voltaire, collectively considered his primary work of literary criticism. "Belle edition que Voltaire fit imprimer par souscription chez les freres Cramer a Geneve, en l'accompagnant de commentaires" (Cohen-De Ricci). The 47-page list of subscribers includes names from England, Germany, Russia, Denmark, Italy, etc., as well as France, testifying to the eagerness with which this edition was anticipated in literary circles all over Europe. "The publication of Voltaire's extraordinary edition of Corneille's theatre, which finally emerged from the Cramers' press in early 1764, had an immediate and profound impact on French literary life… and inevitably it was to cast a long shadow over French dramatic criticism during the remaining decades of the century and beyond…" (David Williams, "The Role of the Foreign Theatre in Voltaire's 'Corneille.'" Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 2, 1976). The spine labels read "Oeuvres de Voltaire," showing which of the two authors held pride of place in the affections of the original owner.

Bindings with occasional rubbing and light staining, bumping and wear to some of the extremities, spines slightly sunned and dried, a few joints just starting to crack at the ends but all the boards are secure; fore-edges of one page-gathering (8 leaves) protruding slightly from the text block of vol. IV; a few leaves bumped at the corners, mild toning with occasional light browning and cockling, a few stray small spots, but generally very clean and crisp. A sound, handsome set. Front paste-down with the engraved armorial bookplate of Ross Ambler Curran, early twentieth-century West Coast society figure and bibliophile.