Mémoires sur la vie de Jean Racine

2 volumes 12mo: I/ (3) ff., 319 pp. and 141 pp.; II/ 403 pp. (misnumbered 405). Black morocco, blind-tooled frame on covers, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt floral motifs, red morocco title label, decorated edges, gilt inner roll, red edges. Contemporary binding.

142 x 80 mm.

Racine, Jean. Memoirs on the Life of Jean Racine. Lausanne and Geneva, Marc-Michel Bousquet, 1747.

Extremely rare first edition in contemporary black morocco of the intimate correspondence of Jean Racine.

The second volume is entirely devoted to the original edition of Racine's intimate correspondence, ranging from his youthful letters—which reveal little of Port Royal's austerity—to those from his maturity, including correspondence with Madame de Maintenon and Boileau. Tchemerzine, V, 367; Guibert, 295-298; Brunet, 30 611; Cioranescu, 51959; Barbier, III, 256.

“The first volume contains the ‘Memoirs on the life of Jean Racine’ written by his son Louis Racine, as well as various pieces attributed to Racine; the second contains the Correspondence, which was then unpublished” (Tchemerzine).

“The first part contains the Speech delivered by Racine at the French Academy for the reception of Abbé Colbert, the outline of the first act of ‘Iphigenia in Tauris,’ the Excerpt from Lucian's Treatise, historical fragments, reflections on Holy Scripture, hymns from the Roman breviary, and works attributed to Jean Racine. It was Louis Racine, the son of Jean Racine, who wrote the Memoirs on his father's life.

These Memoirs provide the most interesting and often unpublished details about the origins of Racine’s family, his beginnings, his friendship with Boileau, his relationships with Molière and Corneille, and especially the reception of his various plays.

Following these Memoirs is the Speech delivered at the French Academy for the reception of Abbé Colbert on 30 October 1678, in which Racine, after emphasizing the recipient's personal merits in the fields of science and religion, lavishly praised the King, protector of the Academy, and the Colbert family, whose members held the most enviable positions in the state.After the Speech comes the outline of the first act of ‘Iphigenia,’ which, according to Louis Racine, is the only poetic fragment found among his father's papers.The Excerpt from Lucian is an actual thesis on the art of the historian and the method of writing history. Racine is said to have written it to inspire himself when he was appointed royal historiographer.The historical fragments are notes jotted down by Racine, “without style and without order.” They are collected as they are, without regard to the use their author might have made of them.The Pious Reflections on several passages of Holy Scripture provide a very accurate idea of Racine's moral and religious concerns” (Guibert).

Written by his son, Louis Racine, the life of Racine was a real success, as it became the main source for all later biographies published after it.

“His Memoirs are not just an act of filial piety. They also provide information about Boileau, the narrow and conventional taste of his time. The anecdotes are lively and amusing. Above all, the commentary on each play reveals to us one of the essential aspects of the withering grammatical purism that prevailed until the end of the 18th century” (Grente).

Provenance: Abbé de Sapte and John Fred. Wolff. Sergeant Regiment Villefranche, 1814.

A learned and refined amateur, passionate about astronomy, painting, and architecture, Abbé de Sapte was one of the most active members and the perpetual secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Inscriptions, and Fine Letters of Toulouse, established by Louis XV in 1746.

In this capacity, he oversaw the admission of Louis Racine in 1750 to the said Academy, upon the strong recommendation of the Marquis de Pompignan.

Very fine copy, elegantly bound in contemporary black morocco, a particularly suitable color for texts related to Jansenism.

Originals of Racine in this condition have long since disappeared from the market.