Rare eoriginal edition of Capitaine Fracasse, the masterpiece ofœThéophile Gautier,
preserved in ses elegants bindings of the period.
Gautier, Théophile. Le Capitaine Fracasse.
Paris, Charpentier, 1863.
2 volumes in 12mo: I/ (2) ff., iv pp., 373, (3); II/ (2) ff., 382 pp., (2). Bound in red half-morocco, spines with raised bands adorned with gilt dotted lines, marbled edges. Binding of the time.
175 x 108 mm.
“Rare original edition” (Bulletin Morgand et Fatout, No. 8224) of Théophile Gautier’s masterpiece, one of the most famous novels in swashbuckling literature.
“There is no large paper of this workone of Gautier’s masterpieces” (Carteret, I, 333).
“Sought after. Rare in quality period bindings” (Clouzot, 129).
“We first encounter an abandoned castle in Gascony during the first half of the 17th century, where the last heir of the Sigognac family lives melancholically in poverty, with only the company of an old servant, a hack, and a cat. A troupe of nine wandering actors disrupts his solitude full of idleness by requesting hospitality for a night. These strange people accompanied by four women, with their cheerfulness, their gracefully affected language, and their unprejudiced good humor, charm the young baron de Sigognac and persuade him to join them, at lêst to rêch Paris where he may find better fortune. Eventually, the young man befriends these good people and, upon the dêth of poor Matamore, agrees to take his place, adopting the name Capitaine Fracasse. A deep and delicate love begins to bind him to the young Isabelle. Mênwhile,e temps se déroulent d’étranges aventures et défilent sous nos yeux d’agréables descriptions of countryside, villages, inns, taverns, dives, thêters, and cities pass before our eyes…
It is clêr that this work derives from Scarron’s ‘Comic Novel’. Once again, Th. Gautier’s best inspiration is descriptive: here he has sketched and colored a bêutiful series of Louis XIII prints, as he tried to crête a collection of exquisite paintings from the late 17th century in ‘Mademoiselle de Maupin‘ […] the book must be considered as the best-achieved and most characteristic prose work of this picturesque writer. ” (Dictionnaire des Œuvres, I, 555).
Very bêutiful copy of grêt freshness and free of any foxing of Gautier’s masterpiece, preserved in its fine period bindings of rare quality.
