Cyrano de Bergerac

Paris: Librairie Charpentier et Fasquelle, 1898. First Edition. Fine. 12mo, 7 3/4 x 5 1/4 in.(192 x 133 mm), 225 pp. 1898 Riviere and Son binding in red crushed morocco, Art Nouveau leaf-spray devices gilt to spine and covers, gilt fillets on turn-ins and binder's mark which reads "R. Riviere & Son | for L.S. Montagu, 1898," t.e.g, others untrimmed, marbled endpapers, original wrappers bound in at rear. A beautifully-bound first edition of the classic French play about the large-nosed Cyrano obliged to help another more handsome man woo the beautiful Roxanne who Cyrano already loves. Rostand's play stages the tragic complicity between two halves of man, puts into question the existence of justice or happy love in this world, but ends with the evidence of hope: in the guise of Christian, it is the soul of Cyrano that Roxanne loved. This drama in five acts saw its first production on December 27th 1897, with the leading role played by Constant Coquelin, who went on to play the role 410 times and toured the play in North America. The dedication of this book reads " C'est à l'âme de CYRANO que je voulais dédier ce poème. | Mais puisqu'elle a passé en vous, COQUELIN, c'est à cous que le dédie. | E. R." (I wanted to dedicate this poem to the soul of CYRANO. | Since that soul has passed through you, COQUELIN, I dedicated to you. | E.R.). Rostand was elected to the prestigious Académie Française the following year, making him the youngest member to date at age 31.
Cyrano has been performed all over the world and has seen many cinematic adaptations, including the 1950 production starring Jose Ferrer, winner of the 1950 Oscar for the Best Actor.

The binder's mark indicates that this copy prepared in London specifically for the library of L. S. Monatagu (Louis Samuel, 2nd Baron Sawythling: 1869-1927), a prominent member of the British Jewish community, a financier, and political activist.