Le paysan parvenu

New édition. The 8 parts each have a title page. Title pages of the first part and the fifth in red and black. Novel first published between 1734 and 1736, the last three parts are apocryphal and appear here at Scheurleer in first edition.

Contemporary full brown calf bindings. Raised band spines ornate with fleurons and stars. Red morocco title labels, and brown morocco volume labels. Restorations to joints and headcaps. Scattered browning. Good copy.

Like La vie de Marianne, Le Paysan parvenu is based on memoirs, and the rise of a handsome young man of great wit, but poor and of peasant extraction. His qualities which will make him appealing in women's eyes will allow him to make his way in the bourgeoisie and achieve success. Marivaux uses the devices of the picaresque novel, throwing his character from one adventure to another. At the end of the fifth part, Marivaux tells his reader what awaits him in the sixth, but the author will return to writing la vie de Marianne, of which Le paysan parvenu seems to be the masculine parallel, and the last three parts will be completed by an unknown author.