"MASTER OF BOTH HIGH COMEDY AND FARCE": DRAMATIC WORKS OF MOLIERE, BILINGUAL EDITION, ILLUSTRATED

MOLIERE. The Plays of Moliere. In French With an English Translation and Notes by A. R. Waller. Edinburgh: John Grant, 1907. Eight volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter green morocco, gilt-decorated spines with red morocco floral onlays, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edges gilt. $2800.

"Edition de Luxe" of the plays of Moliere, illustrated with over 30 plates depicting scenes from the various dramas, number 119 of only 200 sets with the plates in double suite—one of each printed on India proof paper and mounted, the other on Japanese vellum—handsomely bound.

"Moliere may be said to have created modern French comedy by giving it a serious basis, where there had previously been little but farces and comedies of intrigue… His genius lay in his ability to combine profound observation of human nature in its complexity and in its foibles with the power of presenting these in their amusing aspect… He was thus a master of both high comedy and farce" (Harvey and Heseltine, 487). With French and English versions on facing pages and with an introduction by George Saintsbury.

Spines gently mellowed. A fine, attractive set.