Rare Molière French Books

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin

Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris in 1622, for many years Molière traveled around France as head of an acting troupe. Besides being a writer, Molière was an actor, stage manager and director, so perhaps he had a more encompassing understanding of drama than his playwright contemporaries. Molière finally returned to Paris and was able to find an audience with Louis XIV, thereby gaining success.

Molière’s plays are often satires. Unsurprisingly, he drew criticism from many groups including the church and other dramatists. Louis XIV, whose royal family was his patron, often intervened to help the situation. In 1673 Molière became ill while acting on stage in one of his own plays and died a short time later.

A Molière Bibliography

To aid in collecting rare Molière French books, here is a list of his most important plays followed by the French title and date. In addition, many of these works can be read online at Project Gutenberg. A collector of rare Molière French books doesn’t necessarily have to read them all though. Often collectors are perfectly content tracking down everything by their favorite author and displaying the books on their shelves. The joy of the hunt and a successful find is rewarding in itself.

• The Doctor in Love - Le Docteur amoureux (1658)
• The School for Husbands - L’Ecole des maris (1661)
• The School for Wives - L’Ecole des femmes (1662)
• The Rehearsal at Versailles - L'Impromptu de Versailles (1663)
• Tartuffe, or The Imposter - Le Tartuffe, ou l'imposteur (1664)
• Don Juan, or The Libertine - Don Juan, ou le festin de Pierre (1665)
• The Misanthrope - Le Misanthrope (1666)
• The Doctor in Spite of Himself - Le Medecin malgré lui (1666)
• The Miser - L’Avare (1668)
• The Bourgeois Gentleman - Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670)
• The Learned Ladies - Les Femmes savantes (1672)
• The Imaginary Invalid - Le Malade imaginaire (1673)

About Rare Molière French Books

Like any collectible book, rare Molière French books are often more valuable if they are older editions, closer to the original. For Molière, the first American or British editions are collectible besides early editions published in France. There are also certain translators to look into such as John Ozell (? -1743), who translated many titles into English for the first time. Rare Molière French books and sets are also sought after because of their beautiful leather bindings and marbled boards.

Illustrators

Of course, books by Molière having nice illustrations can be valuable as well. Two illustrators of his plays are:

• Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (1741-1814) This French engraver married into an important book publishing family. He also illustrated works of Rousseau and Voltaire.

• Francois Boucher (1703-1770) Boucher was a famous French rococo painter. He is known for painting Marie-Louise O'Murphy, one of King Louis XV’s mistresses.

Newer Editions

There are also newer, out-of-print, leather-bound collections of Molière’s plays available at used bookstores for collectors who do not have thousands of dollars to purchase rare Molière French books.

The Easton Press in 1980 published an edition of Tartuffe and The Would-Be Gentleman. It is translated by H. Baker and J. Miller with an introduction by Henri Peyre.

The Franklin Library published Comedies in 1985, illustrated by Tony Johannot and translated by Donald M. Frame. This was previously published by the same company in 1980 as Seven Plays and contains:

• The Imaginary Invalid
• The Misanthrope
• The Miser
• The School for Husbands
• The School for Wives
• Tartuffe or, The Impostor
• The Would-Be Gentleman

French Bookstores

Although there are many bookstores in the United States where rare Molière French books can be purchased, nowadays with the convenience of the World Wide Web, you don’t have to visit France or live there to browse the stock of French bookstores.

• French Antiquarian BookSellers - A website with French bookdealers.
• Antiqbook - This site originates in the Netherlands and focuses on European used and rare books.
• ABE Books France - Although you can call up a list of French book dealers at their North American site, ABE Books also has a French site.