Published plays

The two collections contain 2457 plays published in France between 1701 and 1840. These include:

• tragedies
• comedies
• historical dramas
• vaudevilles
• comic operas
• operas

There are also a small number of French translations of English and German plays, particularly works by Shakespeare.

The collection includes 18th-century editions of major 17th-century playwrights, such as:

• Edme Boursault
• Pierre Corneille
• Thomas Corneille
• Molière
• Jean Racine
• Jean-François Regnard

It also features prolific 18th-century dramatists, including:

• François Arnaud
• Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais
• Pierre-Laurent Belloy
• Marie-Joseph Chénier
• Charles Collé
• Florent Dancourt
• Philippe Destouches
• Jean-François Ducis
• Charles-Simon Favart
• Jean-Pierre Florian
• Jean-François de La Harpe
• Pierre de Marivaux
• Jean-François Marmontel
• Louis-Sébastien Mercier
• René-Charles Guilbert de Pixerécourt
• Bernard-Joseph Saurin
• Michel-Jean Sedaine
• Voltaire

Themes and styles:

• Many of these writers followed Molière, producing comedies of manners and intrigue, which were less likely to be censored than tragedies.
• Tragedians typically modelled their works on Corneille and Racine.
• Ducis introduced French audiences to Shakespearean tragedy.
• Chénier, a standout playwright of the Revolutionary period, drew on French national history for his tragedies.

Notable 19th century writers represented in the collection include:

• Jacques Ancelot
• Marguerite Ancelot
• Jean-François Collin d’Harleville
• Casimir Delavigne
• Alexandre Dumas
• Alexandre Duval
• Charles-Guillaume Étienne
• François-Benoît Hoffmann
• Joseph-Étienne Jouy
• Charles-Paul de Kock
• Népomucène Lemercier
• Benoît Marsollier des Vivetières
• Louis-Benoît Picard
• Charles Pigault-Lebrun
• Eugène Scribe
• Emmanuel Théaulon de Lambert
• Charles Voirin

Among these, Eugène Scribe was particularly influential. His comedies and vaudevilles were known for their intricate plots, theatrical artifice and fast-paced action.

In 1963, the Library bought 1,194 French plays published between 1700 and 1840 from the firm Martinus Nijhoff, in The Hague. The collection was made up of 70 volumes in 3 uniformly bound series, suggesting they may have been assembled by 3 private collectors. The series are: 

• Recueil dramatique (776 plays)
• Répertoire dramatique (103 plays)
• Magasin théâtral (315 plays)

In 1976, the Library bought 1,053 French plays of the same period from the bookseller Chris Kohler of Dorking, England. In assembling the collection, Kohler ensured that there was no duplication with the Nijhoff collection. 

A further 210 plays were purchased from Kohler in 1977.

The French plays are held as formed collections within the Rare Books collection. The Nijhoff Collection is shelved at:

• RB 842.008 REC (55 volumes)
• RB 842.008 REP (5 volumes)
• RB 842.708 MAG (10 volumes).

The plays in Recueil dramatique and Répertoire dramatique have been individually catalogued. The Magasin théâtral plays have not been catalogued, but are listed on pages 163–169 of the Library’s bibliography of French plays, edited by Ivan Page and published in 1973.

The Kohler Collection is shelved at RBq MISC 324 and RBq MISC 325. These plays have been individually catalogued.

The Clifford, Pelli and De Vesci collections also have good holdings of French plays of the 1700–1840 period.

This guide was prepared using these references:

• CC Kohler, French Drama 1700–1840: A Catalogue of 1007 Original Plays, C.C. Kohler, Dorking, 1976.
• Ivan Page (ed.), French Plays 1701–1840 in the National Library of Australia: A Bibliography, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 1973.