Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, The Learned Ladies, The School for Wives. The Miser. Le Misanthrope, almost from the start, was treated as a masterpiece by discerning playgoers, if not by the entire public. It is a drawing-room comedy, without known sources, constructed from the elements of Molière's own company and first performed in 1666. Molière himself played the role of Alceste, a fool of a new kind, with high principles and rigid standards, yet by nature a blind critic of everybody else. Alceste is in love with Célimène (played by Molière's wife, Armande), a superb comic creation, equal to any and every occasion, the incarnate spirit of society. The structure of the play is as simple as it is poetic. Alceste storms moodily through the play, finding no "honest" men to agree with him, always ready to see the mote in another's eye, blind to the beam in his own, as ignorant of his real nature as a Tartuffe. Illustrated by Tony Johnnot, 503 gilt-edges pages, gilt decorations and patterns to front and rear panels, red leatherbound, 1985, accented in 22kt gold. Printed on archival paper with gilded edges. The endsheets are of moire fabric with a silk ribbon page marker. Smyth sewing and concealed muslin joints.
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