Raymond Poisson, a contemporary of MoliEre, was the leading comic actor with the troupe of the HOtel de Bourgogne and later at the ComEdie FranCaise during the first five years of its existence. He popularized one of the French stage's best-loved stock characters, the impudent servant Crispin, while finding time to supply his troupe with short comedies in which he himself starred. This study is thoroughly documented and reflects the author's detailed knowledge of, and interest in, the period. It establishes Poisson's place in theatrical history, and illuminates a whole tradition in French theatre in the seventeenth century.