Le paysan parvenu, ou le memoires de M***. The Hague, chez C. de Rogissart & soeurs, 1734-
MARIVAUX, (Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de)
5 parts in one vol. 8vo. Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt with red morocco label. 1735
First published in the same years by Prault in Paris this Hague edition followed almost immediately. Marivaux (1688-1763) was more prolific as a dramatist and wrote only two novels but he was equally influential in this sphere. He anticipated the novel of sensibility in the glorification of a woman's feelings and intuition. Both of his novels, the other being La Vie de Marianne, concern struggles to survive in society and reflect the author's rejection of authority and religious orthodoxy in favour of simple morality. "With Marivaux the novel ceases to be primarily a study of manners or a romance of adventures; it becomes an analysis of passions to which manners and adventures are subordinate . . . Marivaux's realism took the form . . . of psychological analysis" (Edward Dowden, A History of French Literature). Marivaux influenced novelists both in Britain and France especially in novels such as Fielding's Joseph Andrews.
Provenance: Armorial bookplate of Sir Robert Henderson Bt. of Fordell.
