Oeuvres meslées

New edition. The privilege being dated 1697, it is not known whether this new edition differs from the one published by Barbin in 1693, Barbin himself being part of the Compagnie des libraires.
Contemporary full glazed brown sheep binding. Richly decorated spine with raised bands. Beige morocco title and volume labels. Head of volume I slightly worn, that of volume V split. Tail caps of volumes I and IV partly lacking. Wormholes on the spines of volumes IV and V. Some gatherings yellowed. Despite the mentioned defects, a copy with an attractive appearance.
Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur de Saint-Évremond (1614-1703), was a moralist and libertine critic, whose rigor and critical independence announced the Enlightenment philosophers, and was perhaps the first author to make criticism a profession. He paid little attention to his writings which circulated mainly in manuscript during his lifetime. This edition, which collects various pieces by the author, including numerous letters, critiques, historical research and poetry, is due to the abbé de Raguenet, who completed the collection with maxims by La Rochefoucauld (pp. 297-326 Vol. IV), a piece by La Fontaine, a letter by Corneille... The literary success of Saint-Évremond led writers to attribute numerous works to him, such as these maxims by La Rochefoucauld, substantially different from recent editions by the same author.