MOLIÈRE. Lot n° 76

Works. New edition. Paris, [Pierre Prault], 1734. 6 volumes in-4, lemon morocco, triple gilt fillet, coat of arms in the center, spine decorated, interior lace, gilt edges on marbling (Period binding). "Boucher's masterpiece, as an illustration; it is one of the most beautiful books of the first part of the 18th century" (Cohen). Famous edition of Molière's works, sought after for its superb illustration, composed of a portrait of Molière engraved by Lépicié after Coypel's painting, 33 out-of-text figures by François Boucher engraved in etching by Laurent Cars, a title finial and 198 vignettes and culs-de-lampe, several of them repeated, drawn by Boucher, Blondel and Oppenord and engraved by Joullain and Cars. A first edition copy, with the word "Comtesse" in the sixth volume (p. 360) being misprinted. The fourth volume gathers the two states of the Sicilian cardboard: the corrected state is bound in its place, on pp. 131-134, and the faulty state at the end of the volume, between pp. 418 and 419. A very precious copy of Madame Sophie bound in lemon morocco with her arms. Princess Sophie of France (1734-1782), the sixth daughter of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska, had a library of devotional and historical works which she, like her older sisters Adelaide and Victoire, had entrusted to Pierre Vente and Jean-Henri Fournier for the binding. Her books differed from those of her sisters only in the color of their binding, Adelaide having adopted red morocco, Victoire green morocco and Sophie lemon morocco. "Madame Sophie having bequeathed part of her library to the Marquise de La Porte de Riants, née Colbert de Croissy, her books became rarer than those of her sisters," notes Quentin-Bauchart. The handwritten catalog of her library, written around 1778, was included in the Libri sale of 1859. The rarity of copies of Boucher's Molière in morocco with arms is well known. Cohen cites only three in private hands and very few have been discovered since then; of all of them, this one is certainly the most prestigious. The copy of Madame Adélaïde, cited by Cohen, is now kept in the Versailles library and it is not known whether Madame Victoire owned one. The third volume bears on the second plate three handwritten lines formerly attributed to Stanislas Leszczynski (1677-1766), ex-king of Poland, duke of Lorraine and maternal grandfather of Madame Sophie: "Je vous aime ma chère graille de tout mon cœur" (I love you, my dear daughter, with all my heart), followed by a crossed-out signature. This attribution, proposed by Quentin-Bauchart, is based on the nickname "graille", the old name of the crow that Louis XV affectionately gave to his daughter Sophie; however, the inscription is now considered to be by another hand. The copy is quoted by Quentin Bauchart, who located it, in 1886, in the library of the Marquis de Certaines at the château de Villemolin, in the Nièvre region. From the library of Viscount Couppel du Lude (2009, n°107), an exceptional collection assembled by the industrialist Pierre Foullon from the 1920s to 1965 and bequeathed to his godson Jacques Couppel du Lude (1918-2008). The quires N and O (pp. 97-112) of volume III were not bound in the copy and are missing; those of another copy in a separate volume, bound in modern apricot morocco, have been enclosed. Some corners and spines finely restored, some scattered foxing and uniformly faded leaves. The forgery of the Dépit amoureux (pp. 129-130 of volume I) is bound at the end of volume III. Cohen, 712 - OHR, 2514/5 - Quentin-Bauchart, II, 125 sq. and 176, n°21 ("precious copy").