Rousseau, Jean Jacques. (1712 - 1778)
Autograph Manuscript
Rare autograph manuscript in French, unsigned, no date, penned boldly by Jean-Jacques Rousseau on an off-white sheet measuring 7.5 x 10 inches (19 x 25.5 cm). An anecdote after the history by Nicolaus of Damascus about Irene, mother of Ptolemy, the page derives from Rousseau's unpublished work relating to the history of women which he prepared between 1746-51 for his benefactress Louise Marie Madeleine Dupin, for whose son he was the secretary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). (20703)Classical Music Opera Philosophy & Religions Autograph Document Autograph Letter