56 - CORNEILLE (Pierre). Works. Paris: Augustin Courbé and Toussaint Quinet, 1648. Two in-16 volumes, Jansenist red morocco leather bound in blue morocco, linings entirely covered with a rich gilded decoration featuring small ironwork motifs, gilt edges (Trautz-Bauzonnet).

CORNEILLE (Pierre). Works. Paris: Augustin Courbé and Toussaint Quinet, 1648. Two in-16 volumes, Jansenist red morocco leather bound in blue morocco, linings entirely covered with a rich gilded decoration featuring small ironwork motifs, gilt edges (Trautz-Bauzonnet). Second collected edition of Corneille’s plays, the first to include his masterpieces. Frontispiece and portrait of Corneille by Michel Lasne. Published in 1644, the first collected edition contained *Mélite*, *Clitandre*, *La Veuve*, *La Galerie du Palais*, *La Suivante*, *La Place royale*, *Médée*, and *L’Illusion comique*. Added here, collected in a second volume, are: *Le Cid*, *Horace*, *Cinna*, *Polyeucte*, *Pompée*, *Le Menteur*, and *La Suite du Menteur*. The edition was divided between Augustin Courbé, Toussaint Quinet, and Antoine de Sommaville. Volume I is addressed to Courbé, and Volume II to Quinet. A superb copy in a Trautz-Bauzonnet double binding adorned with exceptional gilded decoration, a masterpiece of finesse and elegance. Stamp on the front title page. From the Bancel Library. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1969.