Pierre de Lavirey was born in the east of France in 1541 and died in 1619 in Troyes. Little is known about him or his life, but, in addition to his translations of various Italian books, he has left behind him adaptations into French of nine Italian plays which make him one of the most prolific writers of comedy in the sixteenth century. These adaptations are a valuable source for the study of the language of the theatre and of the techniques of creative translation in the period.

Les Tromperies formed part of the second collection of adaptations written by Lavirey. It was first published in Troyes in 1611 by Pierre Chevillot. Its source is Nicolò Secco’s Gl’Inganni, first performed in Milan in 1548.

This title is Volume 100 in the series Exeter French Texts/Textes littéraires. It includes an introduction, select bibliography and essential notes, all in French.

“This volume brings to one hundred the number of texts published by Exeter University Press in the highly regarded Textes Littéraires series edited by Keith Cameron. Well produced and attractively presented, this modern edition of Pierre de Larivey’s Les Tromperies is in all respects a worthy successor to the other volumes in the series.” (Modern Literary Review, Volume 96 No. 3, 2001) “This well-presented and informative edition contains one of the nine plays the prolific Larivey adapted from an Italian original . . . [and] with its concisely formulated scholarship provides a very useful insight into Italian and French Renaissance comedy.” (French Studies, Issue LIV No. 3, 2000)

Keith Cameron is Professor of French and Renaissance Studies at the University of Exeter. Paul Wright is a former MA student from the University of Exter who now works in the civil service.