5 - AUBIGNE (Théodore Agrippa d’). *Les Tragiques*. Presented to the public through *Le larcin de Prométhée*. Published by *Au Dezert* (Maillé, Jean Moussat) as *L.B.D.D.* (*Le Bouc du désert*), 1616. Small quarto (192x135mm.), blue morocco.

AUBIGNE (Théodore Agrippa d’). *Les Tragiques*. Presented to the public through *Le larcin de Prométhée*. Published by *Au Dezert* (Maillé, Jean Moussat) as *L.B.D.D.* (*Le Bouc du désert*), 1616. Small quarto (192x135mm.), blue morocco. Lined with red morocco with wide toothing, gilt edges (Thibaron). Extremely rare ORIGINAL edition of the masterpiece by the Huguenot poet Agrippa d’Aubigné. This long poem, composed over nearly forty years, laments the Wars of Religion across seven books in verse: *Les Misères* describes the suffering of the people; *Princes* denounces the depravity of the king and the nobility; *La Chambre dorée* highlights the unworthiness of the judges; *Les Feux* celebrates the Protestant martyrs of the Reformation, and *Les Fers* recounts their struggles and the massacres of the civil wars; finally, *Vengeances et Jugement* foretells the punishment of the guilty and the reward of the righteous. “A poem written on a whim, which draws on tragedy, epic, and satire alike, it comprises seven books that reveal to the reader the poet’s resentment toward those responsible for the upheavals of a world turned upside down, as well as his confidence in God’s plans, which will bring justice to the persecuted Protestants” (Jacques Bailbé). This first edition was printed by Jean Moussat, most likely at Fort du Dognon, a property acquired by d’Aubigné in Maillé (west of Niort), on the author’s own presses, as he had decided to distance himself from the court, thereby embracing the nickname given to him by his enemies: “The Desert Goat.” Moussat, likely the son-in-law of the printer Thomas Portau, had begun his business in January 1614 in Niort, near La Rochelle. Around the beginning of fall 1615, responding to d’Aubigné’s invitation, he sold his bookstore and workshop to take charge of the presses in Maillé. Moussat’s presses remained at Maillé for six years. *Les Tragiques* was likely his first work. Subsequently, he printed two other works by Aubigné: *Histoire universelle* and *Les Aventures du baron de Foeneste*. A VERY BEAUTIFUL COPY, IN A RICH THIBARON-LINED DOUBLE BINDING, complete with the errata sheet, which is most often missing. (Minor repairs at the top of a few folios.) From the Herpin Library (ex-libris). Tchemerzine, I, 160 In French in the text, no. 85 H. Clouzot, “Notes for the History of Printing in Niort and the Deux-Sèvres,” ed. and revised by E. Surget, Niort, 1994, p. 76, n. 10.