The Comical Romance and Other Tales

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1829. Cloth. Very Good. 9" by 6". Jean-Baptiste Oudry; Various. A wonderfully illustrated set which contains 'The Comical Romance' and other stories by French writer Paul Scarron, and is one of 1,000 limited edition copies. Limited edition, being No. 621 of one-thousand copies 'printed for England and America'. Illustrations include frontispieces to each volume as well as various other illustrated plates by a range of artists including Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Nicolas Poussin, and Pierre Mignard. This is a complete two volume set containing the English translation of a range of literary works by Paul Scarron. One of these is 'The Comical Romance', or 'Roman comique', which was originally published between 1651-1657. 'The Comical Romance' follows the history of a troupe and is said to be in the style of the Spanish picaresque romance. It also contains four interpolated tales which were taken from mainly Spanish sources.Other contents include 'Avarice Chastised; or, The Miser Punished', 'The Useless Precaution', 'The Hypocrites', and 'The Innocent Adultery'. Vol I contains fourteen illustrated plates while Vol II contains a single frontispiece.Paul Scarron (c.1610-1660) was a French poet, dramatist, and novelis. He was the first husband of Francoise d'Aubigne, who secretly married King Louis XIV as Madame de Maintenon. Translated by Tom Brown (1662-1704), a translator and satirist, and John Savage. With an introduction by J. J. Jusserand (1855-1932), a French author and diplomat who was the French Ambassador to the United States from 1903 to 1925. Collated, complete. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, smart. Some light wear to the extremities and to the head and tail of spine, with a few marks to boards. Rubbing particularly to the rear board of Vol II. Light age-toning and spots to the paste downs and endpapers. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are lightly age-toned to the margins with spotting which increases to the first and last few pages. Frontispiece to Vol II is beginning to detach from the binding. Prior owner's ink inscription to half title page of Vol I and Vol II. Very Good