Poetry

New edition. Portrait frontispiece. Title pages in red and black.

Contemporary full glazed brown calf binding. Decorated smooth spine. Brown calf title-label, black calf volume label. Light rubbing. Fine copy, very fresh.
The first two volumes are devoted to the poetic works, the third to the comedies. These works contain the Odes, Cantatas, Epistles, Allegories, Epigrams, and the comedies (Le flatteur, Le capricieux, Le caffé, La ceinture magique). Jean-Baptiste Rousseau was considered the greatest lyric poet of his time; he is especially credited with writing the first French cantatas, this secular genre that was set to music by the most brilliant composers. However, the academic style of Rousseau's writing did not outlive him.

Second edition, printed in a small number of copies on Hollande laid paper.

3/4 red morocco, five raised bands-spine,  gilt date at foot. Slight, superficial fading to spine, marbled paperboards, pebbled flyleaves and pastedowns, original covers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, A finely executed, unsigned binding from the late 19th to early 20th century.

Provenance: from the library of Simone and André Maurois, with their engraved bookplate on front pastedown.

Signed and inscribed copy by Paul Verlaine to the opera singer Marie-Blanche Vasnier : "A Madame Vasnier, hommage respectueux. P. Verlaine." [To Madame Vasnier, with respectful homage. P. Verlaine']

Marie-Blanche Vasnier was the muse of the young Claude Debussy, fourteen years her junior, to whom he dedicated numerous songs of love.

First collective edition, one of the 23 numbered copies on vélin pur fil Lafuma Navarre, the only deluxe copies ("grands papiers").
Rare and very nice copy.

First edition of one of the most beautiful books of the 18^th century, of which the text and the music are entirely engraved$. It is illustrated with an engraved title, 3 frontispieces by Le Bouteux and Le Barbier, a dedication page with the Dauphine arms, and 100 figures by Moreau le Jeune, Le Barbier, Le Bouteux and Saint-Quentin, finely engraved in copperplate by Masquelier and Née. The portrait of Laborde, which can be found on some copies, is not part of this edition and was printed in 1774, separately.
Dentelle bindings in full navy blue morocco, signed by Bruyère at the bottom of the pastedown endpaper. Slipcase covered with a blue marbled paper, suede interior, lined with navy leather; a wide navy silk riband allows the works to be taken out. Spine in five compartments very richly adorned with decorated panels and small finishing tools, fillet at the top and the bottom. Boards framed with fillets and large gilt lace work tooling with fleurons in the corner pieces. Leading edges and spine-ends highlighted with double gilt fillets. Large interior frieze. Overall immaculate paper, with some rare foxing in volume I. Slipcase rubbed on the top. Tiny, miniscule signs of rubbing on 2 spine-ends, one compartment and one leading edge. Very large margins.
Large library label: Morel de Voleine.
Magnificent copy bound in 4 volumes, very rare condition. There are usually only copies with 2 volumes for understandable cost issues. It is also very rare to find volumes of this colour that are not faded or sundamaged.