This volume is a new scholarly edition of Jean Racine’s letters, which span from 1656 to 1699 (the year of Racine’s death). In his introduction, Jean Lesaulnier dives into the mystery of Racine’s correspondence. The famous playwright, who soon became the official historiographer of the king, wrote a myriad of letters to many distinguished personalities in the seventeenth century. Boileau, Madame de Maintenon, and La Fontaine, among others, all reported to have received several hundreds of letters from him. However, most of them disappeared and less than two hundred have come our way. Lesaulnier provides us with several plausible reasons for this uncommon scarcity. In order to craft a hagiographic portrait of his father, it is reasonable to think that Jean-Baptiste Racine carefully purged his father’s personal papers. He is believed to have burnt several letters that compromised the reputation of the Grand Racine. Not surprisingly, none of the love letters Racine wrote to his mistresses (La Du Parc or La Champmeslé) are to be found. Most sadly, there is no trace of any of the letters Racine wrote during his successful years as a playwright, which would enrich our understanding of the plays. On the one hand, the remaining letters reflect a huge temporal gap that corresponds to the theatrical activities of Racine (from 1663 to 1676). On the other hand, in the rare occasions when Racine refers to his plays, he only mentions his hard work (La Thébaïde), a lexical issue (Phèdre), or the hope to fulfill Madame de Maintenon’s request (Esther). Indeed, theater appears as a topic of contempt: in several letters, Racine forbids his son from going to the theater and insists on the necessity of praying and saving his soul.

The portrait of Racine that derives from these letters contrasts with the traditional image of the witty and somehow cynical courtesan that many biographers have crafted (cf. Picard, Viala). This selection of letters depicts him as a perfect husband, a caring father dedicated to his seven children, a loyal friend, and a reliable brother ready to help his sister Marie in need of money. Dedicated to the glory of King Louis XIV, Racine appears also as a historical actor: he is the lively witness of the Siège de Namur, which he describes with many interesting details. Aside from some gossip, Racine’s personality emerges as one of a devout Christian who seeks the good.

The new edition of these letters is definitely worth reading. The sheer length of this editorial endeavor (700 pages for a total of 225 letters) testifies to the amount of work. Indeed, these letters have long been available in the Œuvres complètes edited by Raymond Picard for the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade (1952). However, Lesaulnier’s critical apparatus brings a new dimension to the correspondence. His fifty-page introduction is fascinating: it provides the reader with the history of the many editions that navigated through time. It also focuses on many aspects of Racine’s family, a family that is quite extended and sometimes difficult to grasp (a genealogic tree would have been helpful). It also raises provocative questions about the mysterious reasons behind the missing letters (both sent and received) even though the reader would like to know more. It ends with the hope that some letters remain to be found and that we could still be able to make new discoveries.

This very well-documented and serious edition can also serve as a great working tool. Each letter comes with a thorough summary that explains the circumstances, the people, and the historical context that help us understand what is at stake. The footnotes are also very precious because they give much interesting information and context. They also provide the reader with the different states of the text by mentioning what Racine erased and what he added, as well as all the locations where each original letter can be found. To conclude, Lesaulnier has produced a tremendous work that will be of value to seventeenth-century specialists.