80 - RACINE (Jean). Works. Paris, 1760. Three volumes, in-4 (278 x 205 mm), contemporary red morocco bindings, three fillets on the covers, beautifully decorated ribbed spines, interior lace, gilt edges.

RACINE (Jean). Works. Paris, 1760. Three volumes, in-4 (278 x 205 mm), contemporary red morocco bindings, three fillets on the covers, beautifully decorated ribbed spines, interior lace, gilt edges. First printing of the finest early edition of Racine’s plays. Portrait by Daullé, three fleurons on the title pages, twelve plates, thirteen vignettes, and sixty tailpieces, all engraved by various artists after designs by Jacques De Sève. A very fine copy, elegantly bound in period morocco leather—a rare condition for this work, one of the great classics of 18th-century illustrated books. A label from a bookseller of the period is affixed to the bottom of the title page of Volume I: “Chez Grégoire, bookseller on Rue du Coq, near the Louvre.” A few minor scuffs on the covers, skillfully restored. Very light and sparse foxing in places; small marginal stains on one leaf of Volume I and on the very edge of a few leaves in Volume III.