Œuvres diverses d'un auteur de sept ans

Quarto, 10 ff. limit., 31 numbered pp. 5-35, 1 blank leaf and 87 numbered pp. 3-89.
Red morocco, gilt arms in the center of the covers, crowned cipher at the corners, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt tools, citron morocco lining with a wide polylobed border with gilt flowers, inner roll tooling, gilt edges. Niédrée, 1846.

227 x 167 mm.

Racine, Jean (1639-1699). Duke of Maine, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon. Various Works by a Seven-Year-Old Author.
S.l.n.d. (Paris, 1678).

“Famous original edition dedicated to Madame de Montespan ‘published in 8 copies under the care of Madame de Maintenon, aided by Racine, for Madame de Montespan’s New Year’s gifts’” (Edouard Rahir. La Bibliothèque de l’amateur, in “Books issued in a small number of copies”, p. 276).

“This volume, which contains various letters, moral reflections, historical extracts, and other small writings by the Duke of Maine, was printed to be presented to Madame de Montespan, mother of the duke, on January 1st, 1679. The young prince was not yet eight years old when the volume was published through the care of Madame de Maintenon, his governess, and Mr. de Ragois, his tutor.

Among the preliminary leaves are various epistles and pieces of verse composed by Racine. The letters are addressed to the King, the Queen, Madame de Montespan, Mlle de Villette, Mlle de Thianges, etc. They are signed Le Mignon, or Votre Amant.

This volume was printed only in a few copies.” (Edouard Rahir).

The epistles and verses by Jean Racine constitute the rarest original by Jean Racine in the history of book collecting.

Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine, son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, was born at Versailles on March 30, 1670, and was legitimized on December 29, 1673. He was Louis XIV’s favorite son.

Madame de Staal drew the following portrait:

“This prince,” she said, “had a bright, subtle, and cultivated mind, all the necessary knowledge, especially of society, to the highest degree; a noble and serious character. Religion, perhaps even more than nature, endowed him with all the virtues and made him faithful in practicing them. His taste inclined him to seclusion, study, and work. Gifted with everything that makes a person charming in society, he only participated reluctantly. Yet, in society, he was cheerful, easygoing, obliging, and always even-tempered. His conversation, solid and lively, was full of charm, easily and lightly expressed; his stories entertaining, his manners nobly familiar and polite, his demeanor quite open: the depths of his heart were never revealed, guarded by distrust, and few feelings made any effort to come forth.”

Madame de Maintenon, seeking to please the king, had the letters and themes of the Duke of Maine printed under the title: Various Works by a Seven-Year-Old Author (1678), in-4. This volume, published by Madame de Maintenon but printed in only a few copies as gifts, was notable for the dedicatory epistle in which the king and the favorite are praised subtly and without obsequiousness. At the time, this piece was attributed to Madame de Maintenon, but it is known to be by Racine. The Duke of Maine truly cultivated letters by inclination: after the death of the great Corneille, he put himself forward to succeed him at the French Academy, but the king refused his consent because of his youth.

Preceding the Duke of Maine’s texts, the book opens with a dedicatory epistle to Madame de Montespan and four madrigals; according to Charles Nodier, the epistle and the second madrigal are by Racine (Nodier owned Racine’s copy, in which Racine had signed the pieces he wrote): What is this new Apollo, / Who, almost out of the cradle, / Comes to reign over our Parnassus? – How brilliant he is! / How graceful! / I recognize the Son of the greatest of Heroes. / He is already full of his Father’s spirit / And the fire of his Mother’s eyes / Has passed even into his writings. The first meeting between Racine and Madame de Maintenon—she was then Madame Scarron—took place on January 12, 1675, during a small New Year’s ceremony for the Duke of Maine: Madame de Thianges had given him a fully gilded room! The second meeting took place four years later; this time, it was Madame de Maintenon who organized the celebration in which the young duke presented the work we describe to his mother as a New Year’s gift. Racine, close to Madame de Montespan, was surely recommended to write the introductory dedicatory epistle. This first collaboration brought the governess and the poet together; she was sure to call on him again, eleven years later, when she was seeking a dramatist to write a tragedy suited for the young ladies of Saint-Cyr.

The 9 preliminary leaves contain Racine’s famous dedication to Madame de Montespan:

“Here is the youngest of Authors who comes to ask you for your protection for his Works. He would have liked to wait to bring them to light until he was fully eight years old. But he feared he would be suspected of ingratitude if he spent more than seven years in the world without giving you public marks of his gratitude…”

The first part, numbered 5 to 35, is composed of syntheses and extracts made by the Duke of Maine from his readings; the second part, numbered 3 to 89, notably contains five letters addressed to Louis XIV, his father, and 33 touching letters, often mentioning Madame de Maintenon, addressed to Madame de Montespan.

“TO THE KING.

I have been jealous, SIRE, of the

Letter that does the honor

of writing to Madame de Main-

tenon, for I am so touched by the

marks of your affection, that I

cannot endure that you would give

to others what the beautiful Madame

writes to me will incite me even more to main-

tain the reputation I flatter myself to have, having nothing more pre-

cious in the world than to please

your Majesty.”

Copy bound in doublé morocco with the arms and crowned monogram of Pierre–Adolphe du Cambout,Marquis de Coislin (1801-1873).

“He owned a tastefully formed library, and had his books bound in morocco with his arms and his monogram at the corners.” (O.H.R; tool No. 619).

Precious unique copy offered by Madame de Montespan to Mlle de Langeron, daughter of one of her ladies-in-waiting, with autograph inscription in ink:“Madame de Montespan to Mademoiselle de Langeron”and a handwritten note in ink on the verso of the last leaf by the young Duke of Maine, addressed to Mlle de Langeron: “I see well, mademoiselle / that you have completely forgotten the most [?] In the crowd of her good fathers / a young nurse Augustin / nearing the shepherdesses / he was bitten by their morning”.

The work is dedicated to Madame de Montespan, his mother. “Here is the youngest of Authors who comes to ask you for your protection for his works. He would have liked to wait to bring them to light until he was fully eight years old. But he feared he would be suspected of ingratitude if he had been more than seven years in the world without giving you public marks of his gratitude.” (Dedicatory epistle).

The epistle, long attributed to Madame de Maintenon, is actually by Racine (Œuvres complètes, Paris, Hachette, 1867, vol. III, p. 5).

Precious and remarkable volume bound in doublé morocco with the arms of the Marquis de Cambourg (arms: Manuscripts and printed works from the library of the Marquis de C***, Paris, Potier, 1847, No. 70).

Provenance: Duke of Maine, Madame de Montespan, Mademoiselle de Langeron, Marquis de Coislin (catalogue of his sale, No. 393).

Nodier, Mélange d'une petite bibliothèque, Paris, Crapelet, 1829, p. 327 (“Everyone knows that this book, which contains some school exercises and some letters from the Duke of Maine, was printed under the care of Madame de Maintenon, his governess, and Mr. le Ragois, his tutor, in a very small number of copies that, it is said, does not exceed seven or eight.”).