Le romant comique de Mr Scarron (deux parties en un)

Pairs: Michel David, 1706.

Two volumes bound as one, complete. Both titlepages present. Bound in contemporary vellum, slightly dust soiled, with remnants of label to spine, marbled pastedowns. Margins trimmed with no loss of text. Engraved titlepages and headpieces. A clean and tight copy. 8vo (6 x 3.5 ins); pp [xii], 291; [ii], 289, [2] Scarron was a prolific French writer who contributed significantly to the development of three literary genres: the drama, the burlesque epic, and the novel. His wide experience of the theatre is reflected in his best-known work, Le Roman comique, (3 vols, 1651–59). This novel, composed in the style of a Spanish picaresque romance, recounts with gusto the comical adventures of a company of strolling players. The realism of the novel makes it an invaluable source of information about conditions in the French provinces in the 17th century. Scarron was the first husband of Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, the influential second wife of King Louis XIV of France (Britannica)