RACINE (Jean). Collection of two works bound in one in-12 vo - Lot 67

RACINE (Jean). Collection of two works bound in one in-12 volume, glazed brown calf, spine ribbed, cloisonné and fleuronné with garnet-red title-piece, iron with crowned dauphin and crowned fleur-de-lys at the tail of the spine, decorated edges, gilt edges; headbands, spines and corners redone (period binding). Jean Racine's last two tragedies. -Esther. ÀParis, chez Denys Thierry, 1689. In-12, (14)-86-(6of which the last 2 are blank)pp. First in-12 edition published the same year as the original in-4. Copper-engraved frontispiece outside text. A tragedy magnifying piety and royalty. Twelve years had passed since Racine, after the Phèdre quarrel, had given up the theater, but a commission from Madame de Maintenon decided him to return: patroness of the Saint-Cyr educational center for young ladies, she ordered him to write "some kind of moral or historical poem", demanding "that love be entirely banished". Racine, who had returned to religion and become close to Port-Royal in 1677, chose a religious subject taken from the book of Esther, in which the royal power triumphs over justice and true religion. He gradually submitted the written scenes to his patron, who was delighted, and the play was premiered on January 26, 1689 by the boarders of Saint-Cyr, before the royal family and the grandees. Racine, who had taken the original step of linking chorus and action as in Greek tragedies, who had enriched his play with musical interludes composed by the King's and Saint-Cyr's music master Jean-Baptiste Moreau, and who had obtained credits for lavish scenery, achieved unanimous success: The play was replayed before an audience that included the entire Court, and Louis XIV marked his satisfaction by granting the author the title of "gentilhomme ordinaire de Sa Majesté". -Athalie. ÀParis, chez Denys Thierry, 1692. In-12, (14)-114-(2white)pp. Second in-12 edition, presenting 3 variants with the text of the original edition published the previous year in in-4 format. Copper-engraved frontispiece outside text. "His last masterpiece" (Guibert, p.108). Following the success of Esther in 1689, Louis XIV commissioned Racine to write another play on a religious theme for the house of Saint-Cyr. Racine complied, and once again commissioned Jean-Baptiste Moreau to compose the chorus. However, religious rigorism had invaded the Court, and ecclesiastical circles close to Madame de Maintenon sought to have this kind of entertainment banned, deeming it unsuitable for the education of young girls. The king authorized the play, but it was performed in simplicity, without costumes or scenery, and in front of a small audience of the king, Monseigneur, Madame de Maintenon, Fénelon and a few rare guests. After this premiere on January 5, 1691, three more private performances took place, and it wasn't until 1716 that the play was performed in public. Provenance: de Clermont-Tonnerre family (armorial bookplate).