Œuvres de François Coppée | Complete 5-Volume Set in Full Vellum, Limited Edition | 1898

A François Coppée (1842–1908) was a prominent French poet, playwright, and novelist associated with the Parnassian movement, known for its emphasis on precise form and emotional subtlety. Often called “the poet of the humble,” Coppée wrote with deep compassion for ordinary people—soldiers, laborers, mothers, and the overlooked lives of Paris. His poetry blends lyrical warmth with a gentle realism, and works such as Les Humbles and Poèmes modernes earned him widespread admiration. Later elected to the Académie Française, Coppée became an influential literary voice of late-19th-century France, celebrated for his accessible, heartfelt style.

A rare and elegant five-volume limited edition of the Œuvres de François Coppée, published in Paris in 1898, bound in full vellum with red and black title lettering to the spines and covers. Red top edges. Each volume features rich silk moiré endpapers, an attached red silk page marker, and crisp typography printed on quality paper. Beveled edge boards.Light patina and very mild rubbing to vellum edges consistent with age. Pages clean/crisp. Foxing noted to page edges. Bindings tight and sound. Text in French.

This edition was issued in a strictly limited run, with deluxe copies, as this, printed on fine papers such as Hollande, Chine, and Whatman. The set includes Coppée’s celebrated poetry, prose, and drama—among them Le Pater, the play accepted by the Comédie-Française in 1889 but famously banned by ministerial order.

Contents Include:
Volume I: Severo Torelli; Les Jacobites
Volume II: Le Pater; Pour la Couronne; L’Homme et la Fortune
Volume III: Le Rendez-vous; Prologue d’Ouverture; Le Luthier de Crémone; La Guerre de Cent Ans
Volume IV: Le Passant; Deux Douleurs; Fais ce que Dois; L’Abandonnée; Les Bijoux de la Délivrance
Volume V: Le Trésor; La Bataille d’Hernani; La Maison de Molière; Madame de Maint

Condition: Very Good.

Each volume size: 4” x 6 1/2”

A remarkable collectible which is an elegant example of French fin de siècle literary publishing—both a display-worthy decorative set and a substantive collection of works from one of 19th-century France’s notable poets and dramatists.