Œuvres. Suivant la copie imprimée à Paris

RACINE Jean. Œuvres. Suivant la copie imprimée à Paris. 
Amsterdam, Abraham Wolfgang, 1678.
[Suivi de] : Esther, tragédie Tirée de l'écriture sainte, Amsterdam, Chez les héritiers d'Antoine Schelte, 1698 
[Et de] Athalie tragédie Tirée de l'Ecriture sainte, Amsterdam, Antoine Schelte, 1698.

In-12 (133 x 85 mm): T1 - [6] ff, 69-70-71-82-67 pp; T2 - [2] ff, 70 pp, [1]-83-72-82 pp, [1]-72 pp, 70 pp (Esther), [8] ff, 68 pp (Athalie). Full brown morocco, double gilt fillet framing the covers, spine ribbed and decorated with double fillet framing, fleurons at the corners and central gilt iron, roulette on the edges, inner roulette, gilt edges (19th century binding).

Rare first collective edition by Elzevirian.
Each play is paginated separately with its own title. The signatures follow one another, however, clearly indicating which plays belong to the Works, of which there are 10: La Thébaïde, Alexandre le Grand, Andromaque, Britannicus, Les Plaideurs, Bérénice, Bajazet, Mithridate, Iphigénie and finally Phèdre. As a result, Esther, tragédie Tirée de l'Ecriture Sainte and Athalie tragédie Tirée de l'Ecriture Sainte were not originally part of these 1678 works and were therefore added after the event.

Our two volumes are illustrated with a frontispiece title and each play is illustrated with a hors-texte figure at the beginning of the play. The two added pieces are also illustrated with a hors-texte figure at the beginning of each piece. The two volumes are thus illustrated with 2 frontispiece titles and 12 hors-texte figures.

Slight sunning of the spine of both volumes, illustration of Esther cut a little short at the bottom of the page, otherwise a superb copy.
 
Willems, 1924 ; Guibert, 173-178 ; Tchemerzine, V, 357.