BEAUTIFUL LIMITED EDITION OF SCARRON’S THE COMICAL ROMANCE, ONE OF ONLY 150 COPIES PRINTED ON JAPANESE VELLUM

SCARRON, Paul. The Comical Romance, and Other Tales. London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. Two volumes. Octavo, 20th century three-quarter brown morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, top edges gilt, uncut. $750.

Limited edition, number 33 of only 150 copies beautifully printed on Japanese vellum, with frontispieces and 14 illustrated plates.

Scarron, a 17th-century novelist and dramatist, was most famous for his Roman comique, or Comical Romance, written between 1651 and 1657. Popular in its day, it remains “a work of merit of which is denied by no competent judge. Unfinished, and a little desultory, this history of a troop of strolling actors is almost the first French novel, in point of date, which shows real power of painting manners and character, and is singularly vivid. It is in the style of the Spanish picaresque romance, and furnished Theophile Gautier with the idea and with some of the details of his Capitaine Fracasse” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Included in this edition is a biography of Scarron by Jusserand, which is considered one of the best works on Scarron. Translated into English by Tom Brown and John Savage.

A beautiful set in fine condition.