Régnard - Œuvres - 1771

[REGNARD (Jean-François)]
Works of Regnard. New edition, revised, exactly corrected, and in accordance with the performance.
In Amsterdam, at the expense of the Company, 1771. Three volumes in-12, bound in full brown marbled calf of the period, spines with raised bands richly adorned with gilt panels in floral and vegetal motifs, title pieces in red morocco and needlework in brown (Volume I, Volume II and Volume III).

This elegant eighteenth-century Dutch edition gathers the dramatic and poetic works of Jean-François Regnard (1655-1709), considered one of the greatest playwrights of the classical era alongside Molière, particularly famous for his bright comedies such as Le Joueur or Le Légataire universel.

The set is complete in its three uniformly bound volumes in beautiful marbled calfskin, characteristic of Amsterdam productions of this period. The period bindings show rubs and signs of use at the headcaps, corners, and joints, while the interiors offer a fine freshness, preserving the clarity of the title pages of this Dutch edition.

Jean-François Regnard led, before his career as an author, a romance-like life worthy of his own plays. Captured by Algerian pirates while traveling in Italy, he was sold as a slave to Constantinople and endured the worst torments before being ransomed for a large sum. Back in France, immensely wealthy and deeply marked by his adventures and his roguish travels, he used his keen powers of observation and his caustic wit to skewer the foibles of his contemporaries in his comedies.