317 - [LULLY (Jean-Baptiste)].

[LULLY (Jean-Baptiste)]. Thésée. Tragedy. Set to music. Par Feu Mr De Lully Esc.er Con.er Secretaire du Roy, Maison Couronne de France et de ses Finances, et Sur-Intendant de la Musique de Sa Majesté. Seconde édition. Engraved by H. de Baussen. A Paris, à l'entrée de la Porte de l'Academie Royale de Musique au Palais Royal, ruë Saint Honoré, 1711. In-folio of [2] ff. (title and privilege) and 230 pp. of engraved music illustrated with 6 beautiful headpieces engraved by Scotin after Gillot. Pebbled calf, ornate ribbed spine, title page (period binding). Binding worn, headbands torn off, jaws split, corners dulled. First section A detached. From the library of Bruny de Saint Cannat, Baron de La Tour d'Aigues with his gilt superlibris on the first plate "La Tour d'Aigues". Second edition, engraved by Baussen, of the score of this tragedy in music decorated with ballet entries, machines and theater changes, in a prologue and five acts, on a libretto taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It premiered at the Salle des Ballets in St Germain en Laye, in front of the King, on January 11, 1675, then at the Théâtre du Palais Royal in April. The success of Thésée led to the publication of a large number of librettos, whose many variants - linked to revivals, changes in staging or the constraints of the venue - make it possible to follow the evolution of the work. In 1688, a year after Lully's death, Christophe Ballard published the first score of Thésée, with movable lead type, but without the care usually taken by the composer, to the extent that many errors had to be corrected by hand; based on an early manuscript copy, it mistakenly retained verses from the first prologue that had been deleted as early as 1675. Our second copper-engraved edition of 1711 in reduced score and numerous manuscript copies - more complete but less rhythmically accurate - circulated thereafter, while only three working copies from the XVIIIᵉ century have survived to the present day. Thésée, the third tragedy in music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault, was the work of these two authors that saw the greatest number of revivals, in Paris and at Court, from its premiere (January 1675) until its last performance at the end of the 18th century (1779). The longevity of Thésée is due in part to the favor shown it by Marie Leczinska.