Les Œuvres

3 parts in one octavo volume of (8) leaves, 319, 160, 203 pp. Ivory vellum, remnants of ties, some leaves with foxing, a few marginal wormholes not affecting the text. Contemporary binding.

165 x 105 mm.

Viau, Théophile de. The Works of Théophile, divided into three parts. The first contains the immortality of the soul, along with several other pieces. The second, the Tragedies. And the third, the pieces he composed during his imprisonment, up to the present. Additionally, it includes the Letter against Balzac, together with the Solitude of Sieur S. Armand… A work of excellent invention. Dedicated to the Fine Minds of this time.Rouen, Jean de la Mare, 1629.

First original collected edition of the Works of Théophile de Viau presenting “the famous letter of Théophile against Balzac” (F. Lachèvre. Recueils collectifs de poésies libres. Paris 1914, p. 375).

Very rare, missing from the B. n. F. and Tchemerzine, who never saw it, provides a very erroneous collation, omitting to mention the existence of parts II with 160 pages and III with 203 pages (Tchemerzine, V, 863).

“We have not come across the first edition of the Discours d’Aristarque which is supposed to contain the original edition of the famous letter of Théophile against Balzac” (F. Lachèvre).

F. Lachèvre cites “the famous letter of Théophile against Balzac” published in Discours d’Aristarque à Nicandre. Rouen 1628. Second edition, but he never knew the original edition of this letter.

This Letter of Théophile against Balzac, which closes the volume here, is among the powerful works of French literature. It recounts, without any indulgence, the hatred of two contemporary authors who were once lovers: Théophile and Guez de Balzac. In the Warning to the Reader, the editor recounts the discovery of this letter and asserts that the edition was not printed in Rouen:

“Dear reader, today I give you a letter from Théophile against Balzac, it had been buried by his enemies, you will judge it worthy to be printed among his works for the satisfaction of the curious, who profess the French art of eloquence. The Paladin Javersac took full advantage of it against Narcissus and Philarque, from whom he received an honest reward for his labor, he is like the lackeys behind their master… His book was not printed in Rouen, as he states on the title page; it was at his own expense that it was printed; read & judge this letter.

Your servant, Théophile from the other world.”

The famous quarrel of the Letters mainly featured Théophile, Balzac and Father Garasse.

“The first printed sign of reaction to Balzac’s collection of Letters consists of a response by François Garasse to the mocking criticisms that Balzac, in his Letters, had directed against the Doctrine curieuse des beaux esprits de ce temps, the anti-libertine pamphlet (which directly targeted Théophile) published by the Jesuit in 1623–1624. It is Balzac’s attack on the violently ‘satirical’ style and passionate vehemence, in a letter prudently limited to criticism of form and expression—though with contemporary resonance, since when the Letters appeared, Théophile was still in prison. Would Balzac attempt to defend the poet whom he had known so well? His approach is complex: far from joining the latter’s supporters, the Letters, alongside attacks against Garasse, also present two letters which assault Garasse vehemently. In fact, amid the anxiety prevailing in intellectual circles as the threat hanging over Théophile suggested that worldly literature was under violent Catholic attack, it appears that the letter-writer sought a way to put both his works and himself out of harm’s way, without renouncing a certain kind of critical freedom. The joint attack by Garasse and Théophile appears to sketch out the boundaries of this position.”

Théophile’s place is essential in French literature. According to Ant. Adam, he “renewed French poetry,” and is “the earliest among our great classical prose writers.” Living in libertine circles, he clashed with the Jesuits, who made every effort to have him sentenced. His paraphrase of the Phaedo, titled Treatise on the Immortality of the Soul, made him one of the followers of Giordano Bruno and Vanini, and the boldness of his licentious verses darkened the image his enemies drew of him. “He only knew the flames as a straw man dressed in a satin doublet, yet he was nonetheless condemned, and his friends received a double lesson, first from his peril, then from his despair...” (R. Pintard).

Théophile de Viau died at 36, more worn out, writes Henri Mondor, by his persecutors than by his libertinism. Yet, according to the finest minds of his time, he was assured of literary immortality... (he) was one of the great French lyric poets. The brief beauty of women, their smiling betrayal, their decrepit old age... greatly inspired him... the grace of his natural tone foreshadowed La Fontaine; his courage and freedom continued the legacy of Villon. Mallarmé... granted Théophile de Viau such an important place that it honored them both.

His first exile took the poet to the Netherlands, with Guez de Balzac. According to Henri Mondor, a quarrel, perhaps comparable in some ways to that of Verlaine and Rimbaud, separated them. Back in France, receiving a pension from Louis XIII, Théophile de Viau was again forced to flee to England, where the Duke of Buckingham welcomed him; returning in 1621, he renounced Protestantism and mingled with the poets of the cabarets on the Île Saint-Louis; accused of writing scandalous poems, he was arrested and imprisoned in Ravaillac’s own cell. After a lengthy trial, he benefited from the king’s protection and was executed only in effigy.

Frequently republished, his “poetic works” enjoyed in the 17th century such success that even Malherbe’s glory waned in comparison. More musical than Racan, sturdier than Tristan, the bird Théophile soars more brilliantly through the centuries than he did in his own time.” — Antoine Duminaret.

His poetry enchanted Mallarmé.

Profoundly renewing baroque poetry by the naturalness of his lyricism and the vividness of his imagination, the poet replaced religious inspiration with the exaltation of nature, expressing an Epicurean naturalism with a distinctly materialistic bent.

With a clear and assertive sensitivity, Théophile sings solitude, passionate love, and the beauty of nature.

Precious and extremely rare copy preserved in its original contemporary vellum binding of the first collected edition of the Works of Théophile de Viau, undoubtedly the most important as it presents for the first time in the poet’s works this major first literary letter recounting the homosexuality of two eminent French writers, Théophile and Balzac—allowing Henri Mondor to present this letter as a quarrel, perhaps comparable in some ways to that of Verlaine and Rimbaud.