Edme BOURSAULT

First edition of this critical letter on the subject of Tasso and a new translation. New editions for both theatrical works by Boursault.
Contemporary glazed blonde calf binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. One lack at head of upper joint. Tail slightly worn. Traces of rubbing. 2 corners slightly bumped. Small water stains on boards. Handsome copy.
In this letter to Abbé Conti, Madame Riccoboni delivers a critique and essay on translation. One can discern a modern thinking, reacting against adaptations.
The first edition of Aesop's Fables by Boursault dates from 1690. It is a comic play, which consists of illustrating Aesop's fables through...

New edition, rare, like the original published in 1670 of these two novels.
Copy with the arms of the princes of Bourbon Condé, azure with three fleur-de-lys or, with a bend gules, having presumably belonged to Louise-Anne de Bourbon Condé, known as Mademoiselle de Charolais, daughter of the legitimized daughter of Louis XIV, Mademoiselle de Nantes.
Full blonde marbled and glazed sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with 4 tools with small corner tools and rolls. Red morocco title label. Arms stamped on boards, triple gilt fillet frame. A yellow stain on some leaves at end of work. Joints finely restored. Handsome copy.
Boursault is better known and...

Statement of third edition. The colophon bears the date 1702; indeed, the play was not performed until 1701, and the first publication, posthumous, only took place in 1702. There were in fact three different printings in 1702, one at the address of Damien Beugnié, another at that of the Widow of Clément Gasse, and the last at Nicolas Gosselin's.
Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Decorated spine with raised bands. Red morocco title label. Tail headcap worn. Overall rubbing. Corners bumped.
Besides the dedication which explains the author's project, the work contains a preface in which the playwright attacks the objections against his play. Boursault died in 1701, before...

New edition, "more beautiful and more complete than that of 1725" (Brunet).
Half green sheep binding, nineteenth century. Smooth spines decorated with triple gilt fillets, gilt initials at foot. Some surface wear, edges and corners rubbed.
An author now forgotten, Boursault held an important place in the theatrical life of his time. He even took an active part in the quarrels with Molière and Boileau. Some of his comedies enjoyed great success, and one of his tragedies was compared by Corneille himself to those of Racine; but all his plays suffer from a lack of dramaturgy, they are juxtaposed scenes, without staging.