36 - SOREL (Charles). The True Comic History of Francion. Composed by Nicolas de Moulinet, Sieur du Parc, a gentleman from Lorraine. Carefully revised and corrected by Nathanaël Duëz, master of languages. Published by the Hackes, in Leiden and Rotterdam, 1668. 2 vols. in-16 (75 x 132 mm), comprising 8 folios, including an engraved half-title page and 368 pp. & an engraved title page & 454 pp., bound in red morocco, with triple thread stitching on the covers, decorated ribbed spine, internal perforations, gilt edges (Bauzonnet-Trautz).

SOREL (Charles). The True Comic History of Francion. Composed by Nicolas de Moulinet, Sieur du Parc, a gentleman from Lorraine. Carefully revised and corrected by Nathanaël Duëz, master of languages. Published by the Hackes, in Leiden and Rotterdam, 1668. 2 vols. in-16 (75 x 132 mm), comprising 8 folios, including an engraved half-title page and 368 pp. & an engraved title page & 454 pp., bound in red morocco, with triple thread stitching on the covers, decorated ribbed spine, internal perforations, gilt edges (Bauzonnet-Trautz). New edition, based on the original from 1623. This edition is illustrated with 2 charming frontispieces and 11 unsigned plates. Each plate consists of an upper and lower section, as if they were two vignettes. All the illustrations have beautiful contrast and have been perfectly printed. This Hackes edition is part of the Elsevier collection. “The prettiest and most sought-after edition.” Brunet III, 1931. The authorship of this picturesque and picaresque novel about Parisian life under Louis XIII has long been attributed to Sorel, but Sorel himself disavowed the work. Brunet believes that the novel originally consisted of only seven parts, and that, given its success, Sorel extended it by five additional parts. However, the work is still currently attributed to Charles Sorel, who is said to have expurgated it of its obscenities himself by adding moral developments, for fear of censorship and lawsuits. The work constitutes one of the earliest and most important comic stories in French literature. The novel features multiple narrative levels and is quite complex, foreshadowing a genre that would have a strong influence on the 18th century: the nested-plot novel. COPY BY PICHON, DE MONTGERMONT, LIGNEROLLES, DE FRENNE, AND MOURA