16th-18th centuries: humanism, religious wars, Renaissance to Enlightenment society, history, letters and arts of the Ancien Régime

First complete collected edition and first illustrated edition. The first edition of Dom Garcie de Navarre, L’Impromptu de Versailles, Dom Juan ou le Festin de Pierre, Les Amans magnifiques, and La Comtesse d’Escarbagnas. With thirty copper engraved illustrations by Jean Sauvé after Pierre Brassart, 9 of them included in the pagination.19th-century red full morocco binding, spines with five raised bands, date gilt at foot, double gilt fillets to edges of covers and spine-ends, large inner gilt dentelle, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Bindings...

First edition, rare.
Half blond sheep bindings. Smooth spines decorated in the grotesque style. Red morocco title labels and beige morocco volume labels. Library labels at foot. Two small wormholes along the lower joint of volume I. A split with loss at the lower joint of volume II. A good, decorative copy.

First edition.
Contemporary full bronze calf, spine with four raised bands lavishly decorated in gilt with fillets and dentelles and with blind-stamped tools in the compartments, sides with large blind-stamped panels composed of an elaborate frame of dentelles and fillets, four corner rosettes, and a central lozenge-shaped cartouche ornamented with gilt arabesques and rosettes, corners bumped, gilt rolls to the edges and turn-ins, gilt dentelle border to the pastedowns, a few scuffs, all edges gilt, strictly contemporary binding, signed Martin.

Our copy is complete with the frontispiece and the facsimile of the signatures of Molière and his daughter.
Some foxing.
A handsome...

First edition. One frontispiece.

Contemporary full blonde sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated, red morocco title-label. Headcap worn. One hole at foot. 2 corners slightly bumped. Rubbing.