FIRST EDITION. Oblong quarto. (8.5 x 12 inches or 219 x 306 mm). [5] 6-65 [1 contents] [2 advertisements]. Ten hand-colored engraved plates by Henri Télory. Original publisher's illustrated green paper covers. Minor rubbing to covers minimal foxing to plates and text. An excellent copy. Very scarce, particularly in the original binding. This delightful tale captures the essence of Commedia dell'arte in the characters of Colombine Pierrot Polichinelle Pantalon and Scaramouche. Italian authors state the character of Pulcinella to have been invented about the year 1600 for the Neapolitan impromptu comedies to imitate the peasants of Acerra, a town near Naples. Transferred to France as Polichinelle, the character was subsequently degraded to that of a marionette hook-nosed with a hump before and behind mocking boastful and quarrelsome. Our Punch has a similar derivation. Pierrot is a typical character in French pantomime, thievish and greedy artless and without moral sense, dressed in loose white garments with his face whitened. Scaramouche is an adaptation of the Italian Scaramuccia, meaning 'skirmish,' a stock character of old Italian farce, a cowardly and foolish boaster who Harlequin constantly cudgels. Colombine is the Colombina of the Italian Commedia dell'arte a stock character of the Comedie italienne in Paris. She was originally a serving-maid in a ward of Pantalon. Later she was one of the lovers paired with Harlequin, usually eloping with him" (Oxford Companion to French Literature). Coloured plates in order: 1. Fanferon prit la grosse voix avec laquelle il avait coutume de se donner l'air plus terrible qu'il ne l'avait en realite. 2. Signor Pantalon et Scaramouche virent tout a coup apparaitre un etre bizarre qui semblait tomber du ciel. 3. Ce fut alors un charivari infernal, une danse de forcenes. 4. Pendant que le jeune Bergamasque soulevait le pauvre homme, Columbine glissa avec une charmantle modestie sa petite bourse dans la main de ce cdernier. 5. Polichinelle n'eut plus qu'a pousser cette espece de broucette humaine. 6. "C'est le feu de bois!" repondit Pierrot. 7. A moi ma cavalerie legere! Cria le geant aux quatre bras...! 8. Le fiasco et les castagnacci. 9. "Rendez - moi ce coffret" s'ecria Scaramouche. 10. Polichinelle mit la main de Colombine dans celle d'Arlequin.