68 pages in French. Three blank leaves at end. In-12. with wood-engraved frontispiece of Oedipus. Historiated woodcut initial to page x. Considered a second edition or an early reissue. Three leaves with slight marginal spots. Leaf T11 with minuscule loss of page numbers. 80 x 140 mm. Early marbled paper wrappers. An exceptionally well preserved copy. OCLC, 457236377. WorldCat locates one copy (Bibliothèque Nationale de France). "Suivant la Copie imprimée à Paris" indicates this was likely a "contrefaçon" (pirated edition), a reprint by booksellers capitalizing on the play's success. The play was first performed in 1659. The King's privilege for the printing of this tragedy was given in Paris on February 10, 1649, although the play was published later, the original rights having been awarded to Augustin Courbé and Guillaume de Luynes. Oedipe was the play that ended Corneille's seven-year self-imposed exile from the theatre following the failure of his play Pertharite. It represents his triumphant return and his attempt to modernize a classic Greek myth for a sophisticated 17th-century French audience. It is highly regarded by collectors of 17th-century French theatre, and, to satisfy the "bienséances" (proprieties) of his time, Corneille radically altered Sophocles' plot and stripped away much of the horror (the blood and gouged eyes are minimized) and added a new subplot involving Dircé (a sister for Oedipus) and a love interest, Thésée. This shifted the focus from divine fate to human politics and free will.