plete _Theatre_ in 5 vols. 12mo. Numerous editions appeared in the
early part of the 18th century, that of 1740 (6 vols. 12mo, Amsterdam)
containing the _OEuvres diverses_ as well as the plays. Several
editions are recorded between this and that of Voltaire (12 vols. 8vo;
Geneva, 1764, 1776, 8 vols. 4to), whose _Commentaires_ have often been
reprinted separately. In the year IX. (1801) appeared an edition of
the _Works_ with Voltaire's commentary and criticisms thereon by
Palissot (12 vols. 8vo, Paris). Since this the editions have been
extremely numerous. Those chiefly to be remarked are the following.
Lefevre's (12 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1854), well printed and with a useful
variorum commentary, lacks bibliographical information and is
disfigured by hideous engravings. Of Taschereau's, in the
_Bibliotheque elzevirienne_, only two volumes were published. Lahure's
appeared in 5 vols. (1857-1862) and 7 vols. (1864-1866). The edition
of Ch. Marty-Laveaux in Regnier's _Grands Ecrivains de la France_
(1862-1868), in 12 vols. 8vo, is still the standard. In appearance and
careful editing it leaves nothing to desire, containing the entire
works, a lexicon, full bibliographical information, and an album of
illustrations of the poet's places of residence, his arms, some
title-pages of his plays, facsimiles of his writings, &c. Nothing is
wanting but variorum comments, which Lefevre's edition supplies.
Fontenelle's life of his uncle is the chief original authority on that
subject, but Taschereau's _Histoire de la vie et des ouvrages de P.
Corneille_ (1st ed. 1829, 2nd in the _Bibl. elzevirienne_, 1855) is
the standard work. Its information has been corrected and augmented in
various later publications, but not materially. Of the exceedingly
numerous writings relative to Corneille we may mention the _Recueil de
dissertations sur plusieurs tragedies de Corneille et de Racine_ of
the abbe Granet (Paris, 1740), the criticisms already alluded to of
Voltaire, La Harpe and Palissot, the well-known work of Guizot, first
published as _Vie de Corneille_ in 1813 and revised as _Corneille et
son temps_ in 1852, and the essays, repeated in his _Portraits
litteraires_, in _Port-Royal_, and in the _Nouveaux Lundis_ of
Sainte-Beuve. More recently, besides essays by MM. Brunetiere, Faguet
and Lemaitre and the part appurtenant of M. E. Rigal's work on 16th
century drama in France, see