Rousseau, Jean Jacques. (1712 - 1778)
"Le Devin du Village" - FIRST EDITION WITH PAGE OF AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT WRITING
Le Devin du Village, Interméde représenté a Fontainebleau devant Leurs Majestés les 18. et 24. Octobre 1752. Et A Paris par l'Academie Royale de Musique le 1er mars 1753… Gravé par Melle Vandôme. (plates 1 - 50). Paris, Le Clerc imprimé pour Chouin, [1753]. Engraved throughout. Title; (catalogue); Dedication; (avertissement); 1 - 95 pp. [bound together with:] LAGARDE, Pierre de. Aeglé, ballet en un acte. Paris, L’Auteur, Mme Boivin et Le Clerc, Leclerc, [1751]. Engraved throughout. Title; (vb); Dedication; (vb); 1 - 70 pp. 2 Volumes in 1. 4to. (328 x 245 mm). In original period binding of full marbled calf, gilt decoration over full spine with title plate in red. Small staining to lower outer margin pages 31-37, scattered foxing and toning, some wear and small restorations to binding, overall fine. Together with a sheet of autograph writing from the important Swiss-French philosopher and writer, who also wrote the libretto. Reference: Dufour, 35 (tirage C of 6 variant printings). Provenance: Édouard-Henri Fischer (ex-libris).
The first work in the repertory of the Académie Royale de Musique for which the text and music were by the same author, Le Devin du Village ("The Village Soothsayer") was first performed on 18 October 1752 before the royal court at Fontainebleau, and for the public, on 1 March 1753 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. King Louis XV loved the piece so much that he offered Rousseau the great honor of a life pension, though Rousseau refused the honor. However, the opera became one of the most popular of its day and brought him both wealth and fame. The opera was also performed at the wedding of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.Laid in is a rare autograph manuscript in French, 2 pp (recto/verso), unsigned, no date, penned boldly by Jean-Jacques Rousseau on an off-white sheet measuring 7.5 x 10 inches (19 x 25.3 cm). The manuscript concerns the women of the Capetian dynasty and derives from his unpublished work relating to the history of women which he prepared between 1746-51 for his benefactress Louise Marie Madeleine Dupin, for whose son he was the secretary and teacher from 1745-51.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the greatest philosopher-musicians in the history of music. Besides being one of the leading philosophers, he was also a composer and theorist of music. Whilst Jean-Philippe Rameau, his great musical contemporary and antagonist, was a great composer who wished to be accepted by the philosophers as one of their own, Rousseau was a great philosopher who always aspired to succeed as a musician. In 1748, Diderot entrusted Rousseau with many of the most important articles on music for the great Encyclopédie des Arts et Métiers, in which he criticized Rameau's theoretical and musical systems. Rousseau lived part of his life as a professional copyist, producing large-scale manuscripts, but also composed a substantial body of works of his own, most notably his opera, Le Devin du village (1752). This work, sung throughout without spoken dialogue, was a true opera and achieved instant success, staying in the repertory of the Opéra for some sixty years. (20700)
Printed Music Classical Music Opera Philosophy & Religions Autograph Document Autograph Letter