[Manuscript:] Les Philippiques ou les Odes sur le Regent.

Bookseller Notes

A virulent satire on Le Rgent (Philippe II, Duke of Orlans, 1674-1723). Written in 1720, and first circulated in manuscripts such as this, Les Philippiques was rigourously suppressed by the Rgime, and the author, Lagrange-Chancel, was persecuted. The many charges levelled against le Duc include incest with his daughter, foreshadowing the kinds of accusations many aristocrats would face later in the eighteenth century. This is an early version; the 4th Ode is added later in another hand, which is good, but not as accomplished as the main text: this accounts for change from foliation to pagination, so that it could be squeezed into the available space. The Remarques consist of historical and explanatory notes, and identifications of the persons involved. In the 4th Ode the notes are in the margins. The last page gives the text for the funeral oration on Le Rgent's delivered by Michel Poncet, Bishop of Angers (Job 30, 22), followed by a few satirical lines on the bishop. Les Philippiques was eventually printed in Amsterdam in 1723 (the year of Le Rgent's death) - with but three odes - and again in an undated edition, with four. A complement of five was printed in Paris in 1795, and a sixth added to the edition of 1858. Franois Joseph Lagrange-Chancel (1677-1758) was a child prodigy, producing such promising dramas from the age of nine that the elderly Racine came out of retirement to lend his support. Les Philippiques remain his best known work, and are a marcellous combination of scandal, satire and poetic verve.Provenance: Bookplate of Robert de Billy (1869-1953), French diplomat and friend of Marcel Proust. The monogram in the bookplate consists of 4 intertwined Bs (?another de Billy bookplate).