Speckled calf binding with maroon title plate, gilt decoration and title( Pieces de Theatre) on the spine.

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Tom Jones on the Paris stage[CHOUDARD]-DESFORGES, [Pierre Jean Baptiste]. ~ Tom Jones a Londres, comédie en cinq actes, en vers, tirée du roman de Fielding, répresentée, pour la première fois, par les comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi, le Mardi 22 Octobre 1782. Paris: F. J. Baudouin, 1782.

[with:] — Tom Jones et Fellamar, suite de Tom Jones a Londres; comédie en cinq actes et en vers. Réprésentée, pour la première fois, par les comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi, le Mardi 17 Avril 1787. Paris: Prault, 1788.

First edition. Please view the photographs. Given its age and usage this book remains in good condition being a dramatic adaptation of Fielding’s Tom Jones for the French stage by Choudard-Desforges. The play was written for performance by the Comédie-Italienne, of which the playwright Desforges had been a member.

Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Choudard, known under the pen name of Desforges, (15 September 1746 – 13 August 1806) was a French actor, dramatist, librettist and man of letters.

Biography: Choudard was born in Paris, the natural son of Dr. Antoine Petit. He was educated at the Collège Mazarin and the Collège de Beauvais and, in accordance with his father’s wishes, began the study of medicine. He then turned to painting and did casual work.

Dr. Petit’s death left him dependent on his own resources, and after appearing on the stage of the Comédie-Italienne in Paris he joined a troupe of wandering actors, whom he served in the capacity of playwright. He was known under the pen name of Desforges, which also was the name he had on the stage. He married an actress; the two were welcomed in Saint Petersburg, where they spent three years (1779 to 1782). After his return to Paris he dedicated himself completely to literature.

Desforges was one of the first to avail himself of the new facilities afforded under the Revolution for divorce and remarriage. His memoirs are said to have been undertaken at the request of Madame Desforges. He died in Paris in 1806.