Œuvres Complètes de Molière – 4-Volume Set | Firmin-Didot Paris | 19th Century Half-Leather Binding

Œuvres Complètes de Molière | 4-Volume Set | Librairie Firmin-Didot, Paris | 19th Century | Half-Leather Binding

A distinguished and complete 19th-century scholarly edition of France's greatest playwright — Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, dit Molière — published by one of the most prestigious printing houses in French literary history. This four-volume set, issued by the celebrated Librairie de Firmin-Didot Frères, Fils et Cie, Imprimeurs de l'Institut de France, Rue Jacob 56, Paris, represents the gold standard of 19th-century French scholarly publishing: meticulous typography, fine paper, and an editorial apparatus that brought together the notes of all major commentators alongside textual variants and the historic Préface de 1682.

For collectors of French literature, antiquarian books, or 19th-century fine printing, a complete Firmin-Didot Molière in its original half-leather binding is a genuinely desirable acquisition — both as a reading text and as a handsome addition to any library.

Contents of the Set

• Tome Premier — Œuvres Complètes de Molière, avec des notes de tous les commentateurs, les variantes et la préface de 1682
• Tome Deuxième — Œuvres Complètes de Molière (suite)
• Tome Troisième — Œuvres Complètes de Molière (suite et fin)
• Volume IV — Chefs-d'Œuvre Littéraires du XVIIe Siècle, collationnés sur les éditions originales et publiés par M. Lefèvre — a companion anthology of 17th-century French literary masterworks

Publication & Binding Details

• Publisher: Librairie de Firmin-Didot Frères, Fils et Cie — Imprimeurs de l'Institut de France, Rue Jacob 56, Paris
• Century: 19th century (mid-to-late)
• Binding: Half-leather with marbled paper boards — tan/cognac leather spine and corner pieces over dark grey-blue marbled boards
• Format: Octavo
• Height: approx. 20 cm
• Width: approx. 13 cm
• Typography: Fine Didot typeface — the house font of Firmin-Didot, one of the most elegant typefaces in the history of printing
• Language: French

About Firmin-Didot

The Firmin-Didot dynasty were not merely publishers — they were among the most important figures in the history of European printing. Firmin Didot (1764–1836) invented the stéreotypie (stereotype printing plate) process and created the Didot typeface, still considered one of the finest classical typefaces ever designed. A book bearing the Firmin-Didot imprint is a document of printing history as much as it is a literary text.

Condition

• Bindings show honest wear consistent with age — rubbing to spine extremities and corners, as expected for 19th-century half-leather
• Pages are clean and legible with age-appropriate toning — no tears, annotations, or water damage observed
• All four volumes present and complete
• Please review all photos carefully — what you see is what you get.

A complete, scholarly, and beautifully bound 19th-century Molière — the kind of set that anchors a library and rewards every reading.