Recueil des plus beaux vers

2 parts in 1 volume in-12 of (16) leaves and 286 pp., (2) leaves, pp. 287 to 536.

Blue morocco, triple gilt fillet framing the covers, gilt stamped arms at center, spine with raised bands decorated with gilt tooling and alternating armorial motifs, red morocco title label, gilt roll-tooled edges, gilt inner dentelle, red edges. Binding from the early 18th century.

143 x 84 mm.

M. de Mollier or "Molière". Collection of the most beautiful verses that have been set to music. With the names of the authors of both the tunes and the lyrics.

Paris, Charles de Sercy, 1661.

Extremely rare first edition of the poems signed "De Mollier" composed before the year 1660 and "First printed on the 18th of June 1661".

Barbier, IV, col. 106; Lachèvre, Recueils collectifs de poésies, publiés de 1597 à 1700, II, pp. 84-89 and 129-130; Quentin Bauchart, I, pp. 409-426; Le Livre au féminin, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, 1996, no. 156; Barber, The James A. de Rothschild Bequest at Waddesdon Manor. Printed Books and Bookbindings, Rothschild Foundation, 2013, II, no. 672 and 714; Larguier (L.), Les Trésors de Palmyre, Plon, 1938, pp. 53-63; Olivier, Pl. 800.

These include among others: Serenade for the King (Louis XIV) signed M. de Mollier, Chanson A danser de Mr. De Mollier, signed M. de Mollier,another Chanson a Danser de Mr. De Mollier signed M. de Mollier, etc…

The signature of these first poems and songs composed before Les Précieuses ridicules was very quickly corrected to "Molière" by Madame de Sévigné.

This precious volume gathers 314 original poems, including, in addition to those mentioned above, the great authors of the 17th century: Corneille, Voiture, Pascal (madame), Scarron, Mlle de Scudery, M. de Rambouillet and Malherbe, among others.

Precious copy bearing the arms of the Comtesse de Verrue (1670-1736), born Jeanne-Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes.

Wife of a field marshal, she was courted by the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, and after a long resistance eventually yielded to his passion. Olivier adds, however, that she imperiously dominated the Court of Savoy, eventually grew weary after having tired those around her, and returned to Paris where she opened her hôtel on Rue du Cherche-Midi to writers and philosophers.

A bibliophile, she assembled in her Parisian hôtel and at her country house in Meudon a collection of about 3,000 titles, all bound by the best artists of the time, often in morocco of various colors and with her coat of arms.

In Paris, these books were kept in a large study overlooking the garden, in cabinets of tortoiseshell and brass marquetry, the shutters adorned with green taffeta curtains, the tops covered with marble.

Tradition has it that she, "who [was] 30 years old in 1700, admirably represents the 18th century, where people [were] philosophers and libertines, epicurean, elegant, curious, artistic and intelligent." And it is pleasant to imagine her—she whose epitaph, composed by herself, was "Here lies, in profound peace, this lady of pleasure who, for greater security, made her paradise in this world"—singing with her friends, wits, artists, writers and philosophers, some of the songs brought together in this collection.

Copy in very fine condition.

Provenance: Jeanne-Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, Comtesse de Verrue (Cat., 1737, no. 206), with handwritten shelfmark; Marquis de Colin (Cat., 2845, no. 362 "Copy with the arms of the Comtesse de Verrue"), with the handwritten note "Colin 1845" on one of the first endpapers; Florin de Duikingberg, with his bookplate.