La vie tres Horrificque du Grand Gargantua; Pantagruel, Roy des Dipsodes Restitue a Son Naturel auec ses Faictz et Prouesses Espoventables

Francois Rabelais; Verdun L Saulnier; Jean-Yves Pouilloux

Paris, Garnier-Flammarion, 1968

2 volume set, printed 1968-1969. Fine bindings. Bound in green cloth. Gilt ornamentation. Hardcover. Minor shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages. 

"The novels present the comic and satiric story of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel, and various companions, whose travels and adventures are a vehicle for ridicule of the follies and superstitions of the times. The first two novels were published under the anagrammatic pseudonym Alcofribas (Alcofrybas) Nasier. The first book, commonly called Pantagruel (1532), deals with some of the fantastic incidents of the early years of Pantagruel. Rabelais displayed his profound comic sense, love of language, and storytelling genius within the framework of a mock-heroic romance. Pantagruel is endowed with enormous strength and appetites, and his early years are full of fantastic incidents. While at the University of Paris, he receives a letter from his father that is still considered an essential exposition of French Renaissance ideals. In Paris Pantagruel also meets the cunning rogue Panurge, who becomes his companion throughout the series. In Gargantua (1534) old-fashioned scholastic pedagogy is ridiculed and contrasted with the humanist ideal of King Francis I, whose efforts to reform the French church Rabelais supported." - Britannica