Absalon, tragédie, tirée de l'Ecriture Sainte. Dédiée au Roy.

A Paris, chez Anisson, Directeur de l'Imprimerie Royale, 1702. 4to. 6 leaves. 109 pages. 1 leaf. Full brown calf, spine ribbed and decorated (contemporary binding, upper hinge cracked, upper boards stained, old handwritten label on first board). Original Edition of this tragedy, which was performed before Louis XIV by the girls of the Saint-Cyr boarding school, designed to provide an education for young ladies from poor noble families. Joseph François Duché de Vancy (1668-1704) was raised in close proximity to the royal court, where his father was Gentleman Ordinary of the King's Court. From his twentieth year, he achieved great success on the lyric stage, presenting ballets and operas at the Château de Marly and the Château de Versailles. Having attracted the attention of the king's mistress Madame de Maintenon, he was entrusted by the Maison de Saint-Cyr with the production of sacred poems, edifying histories and religious tragedies such as the tragedy "Absalon", for which he was awarded a pension. First performed before the king in 1702, the play was not given in Paris until April 7, 1712, ten years after the author's premature death at the age of thirty-seven in 1704. In fact, most of his dramatic works were performed posthumously. Traces of wear to the binding, but a good copy from one of the most prestigious libraries of its time, that of Jean-François-Paul Le Fèvre de Caumartin (1668-1733), with his engraved bookplate bearing the handwritten quotation.