Voltaire & Bossuet [ 2 livres en 1 vol ] - La Ligue, ou Henry le Grand & Réponse de Monseigneur l'Évesque de Meaux aux quatre lettres...2 en 1 - 1698

2 Rare ancient books from the 17th century bound in 1 single volume (see photos).
Voltaire & Bossuet - La Ligue, ou Henry le Grand & Réponse de Monseigneur l'Évesque de Meaux aux quatre lettres de Monseigneur l'Archevesque de Cambray

The main work is La Ligue, ou Henry le Grand, written by Voltaire. This is the very first version of his famous historical epic, which would later become La Henriade.

Why there are 9 cantos: In its first edition published clandestinely, this epic poem contained only nine cantos. It was only in 1728 that Voltaire reworked his work to add a tenth canto and change the title to La Henriade.

The main text (without title page)
The first text of your work is La Ligue, ou Henry le Grand, written by Voltaire. It is the very first version of his famous historical epic, which would later become La Henriade.

The concluding text (with the 1698 title page), it is the Réponse de Monseigneur l'Évesque de Meaux aux quatre lettres de Monseigneur l'Archevesque de Cambray.

The author: Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (then Bishop of Meaux). The printer: Jean Anisson, who was the director of the Imprimerie Royale in Paris.
This 1698 text is part of the famous and heated religious quarrel over quietism that pitted Bossuet against Fénelon (the Archbishop of Cambrai).

A volume combining an 18th-century edition of Voltaire's first version of La Henriade (1723-1724), and a text of religious controversy by Bossuet printed in 1698

Leather binding of the period, corner title piece, format "18.3 x 12 cm", headbands, printer's ornaments at the bottom of pages, binding with gold-ruled back, red edges, vignette on the title page, one title page missing & another present dated 1698, printer’s ornaments, drop caps, a very fine rare 18th-century exemplar. (see attached photos)

Pagination:
Book 1: viiii + 157 pages. La Ligue, ou Henry le Grand
Book 2: 100 pages. Réponse de Monseigneur l'Évesque de Meaux aux quatre lettres de Monseigneur l'Archevesque de Cambray.
Book 3: 46 pages. The art of preaching to an abbé.

Very beautiful 17th-century copy.
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