Description
The precious copy of Bonaparte’s Théâtre espagnol
from La Malmaison.
A theater had been built in the attic
where those close to the emperor performed his favorite plays.
Lope de Vega. Calderon. Moreto. Fragoso. Pièces du théâtre espagnol traduites par Linguet.
Paris, de Hansy, 1770.
4 parts in 4 volumes 12mo [167 x 98 mm] of : I/(2) ll., 496 pp. ; II/(2) ll., 497 pp. ; III/(2) ll., 417 pp. ; IV/(2) ll., 419 pp., (3) pp., 5 pp. of catalogue.
Marbled calf, flat spine with triple gilt fillets and gilt fleurons, lettering pieces in red and lemon morocco, gilt fillet on leading edges, marbled edges. Contemporary binding.
The first complete French translation by Linguet of plays written by several great Spanish comedic playwrights.
This collective edition reunites 15 comedies from the Spanish theater of the Golden Century:
3 comedies by Lope de Vega : La Constance à l’épreuve, Le précepteur supposé and Les vapeurs ou la fille délicate.
6 comedies by Calderon : Il y a du mieux, Le viol puni, La cloison, Se défier des apparences, La journée difficile and On ne badine point avec l’amour.
3 comedies by Moreto : La chose impossible, La ressemblance and L’occasion fait le larron.
1 comedy by Fragoso : Le sage dans sa retraite.
La fidélité difficile, by Candamo and Le fou incommodé by Solès.
Following those are diverse interludes from the Spanish theater: Intermède des melons, Intermède des Beignets, Intermède du malade imaginaire, Intermède de la relique…
There are numerous writers who imitated Lope : in France, Hardy, Rotrou, le sieur d’Ouville, and even the great Corneille himself, Boisrobert, Montfleury ; some of Lope’s traits can be found in Molière.
“François Laserre, who has read more than a hundred of Lope de Vega’s plays, estimates that “Corneille definitely was influenced by Lope, and very early on. Before Mélite, he had read Lope de Vega, and while he wrote La Veuve, he was using seven or eight volumes from the Lope de Vega collection as reference.”
Huszar states that the name of Bélise in Les Femmes savantes comes from Los melindres de Belisa by Lope de Vega and that Molière put the Spanish author to contribution. (J. M. Losada-Gaya)
A precious copy owned by Bonaparte at La Malmaison and bearing a seal on each title.
It is mentioned in the inventory of the Library of de La Malmaison under n°1650.
Napoleon had a pronounced taste for the theater. At La Malmaison, a small “portable theater” was set up in the attic, followed by, in 1802, a “real” theater built by Fontaine. The plays were most often performed by those close to the emperor: Hortense and Eugène de Beauharnais, Caroline Murat, Bourrienne…
