THEATRE DE P. CORNEILLE AVEC DES COMMENTAIRES ET AUTRE MORCEAU

Corneille. (Gravelot, Hubert)illus. THEATRE DE P. CORNEILLE AVEC DES COMMENTAIRES ET AUTRE MORCEAUX INTERESSANTS edited by Voltaire. Geneva, 1774. 8 volumes, quarto, frontispiece and 34 engraved plates after designs by Gravelot. 18th C. leather boards, old reback to spines, new labels. The 1774 reissue of the 1764 Voltaire edition which was in 12 volumes. Internally very fresh. Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) "can be considered the prime shaper of the French theater, While earlier writers had attempted a tragedy of actions, Corneille sought tragedy in the depiction of the human soul, thus substituting an interior drama for the exterior drama of his predecessors." (Benet, Readers Encyclopedia). Hubert Gravelot (1699-1773), after studying with Boucher in Paris, spent several years in dissipated living. Ultimately, however, he went to London, established a reputation as an engraver, and opened an art school in the Strand. He was the first to recognize the talent of Gainsborough, and was a close friend of Hogarth, assisting in the engraving of his early plates. He became one of the foremost caricaturists in England, but upon the outbreak of war between England and France, had to return to Paris. After settling finally in France he illustrated the books upon which his main reputation rests, including the Corneille. His drawings are notable for their finesse, their spirit, and the perfection of their execution. (From Benezit). Gordon Ray devotes a 15 page section of his "Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700-1914" to Gravelot's work as a book illustrator, with entries on books by Gay, Fielding, Boccaccio, Rousseau, Racine and Voltaire, as well as the present work written by Corneiile, of which he says "...Gravelot's harmonious decorative compositions nicely interpreting the crucial moments of the plates, are a delight to the eyes." In a discussion Gravelot's method Ray says: "Gravelot's way of working was highly idiosyncratic. He studied the text he was illustrating with great care, identifying the situations in the story, poem or play which were salient in his author's mind. The he considered how each situation could be presented in the most telling way. Here he employed [three articulated mannequins] each about two feet high and capable of every movement of the body, down to the movement of the fingers of both hands...He had assembled a full wardrobe for