CORNEILLE (Pierre). *Le Théâtre*, revised and corrected by t - Lot 58

CORNEILLE (Pierre). *Le Théâtre*, revised and corrected by the author. Paris: Guillaume de Luynes, 1682. Four in-12 volumes, contemporary red morocco bindings, gold fillet on the covers, ornate ribbed spines, gilt edges. The first complete edition of Corneille’s plays, the last one authorized by him, presenting the definitive text. It contains the plays that appeared in the previous collected edition (1668), to which are added here *Tite et Bérénice*, *Pulchérie*, and *Suréna*. The privilege, “granted at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on the 17th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1679,” was granted for ten years to Guillaume de Luynes. The “printed for the first time” date is February 26, 1682. This edition, of great importance, “deserves to be sought after perhaps even more than all the previous ones. Copies are less rare, but it is very difficult to find ones that are truly complete with all the frontispieces” (Picot). First-state copy in 197 pages, prior to the deletion of twenty lines in Scene V of Act V of *Théodore* (Volume II). A superb and valuable copy, complete with the portrait and all four frontispieces, bound in its original, strictly period morocco leather binding. Extremely rare in this condition. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1984. Picot (E.). Bibliographie Cornélienne, 1876, no. 113.

Estimate:£8,522.35

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