Proserpine, Tragédie mise en musique par feu monsieur de Lully, Escuyer, Conseiller-Secretaire du Roy, Maison, Couronne de France & de ses Finances, & Sur-Intendant de la Musique de Sa Majesté. Seconde édition. A Paris , par Christophe Ballard, seul Imprimeur du Roy pour la Musique, ruë Saint Jean de Beauvais, au Mont-Parnasse. On la vend a l’entrée de la porte de l’Academie royale de musique, au Palais Royal, ruë Saint Honoré, MDCCVII [1707]. 

This copy bears autograph signatures of Jean Baptiste Lully (the second son of the composer and surintendant de la musique du Roi from 1696 to 1719) and the publisher, Christophe Ballard, at the foot of the first page of the prologue, and an ownership signature from a Madame Moracin on the front endpaper. Unfortunately, many pages have been removed from this copy, leaving the following 295 pages out of 429: [i-iv]; 1-4; 41-84; 93-114; 117-130; 133-156; 165-166; 169-222; 233-300; 305-310; 337-360; 371-380; 387-388; 393-408. Original full-leather binding with corner and edge wear, but structurally sound, stamped in gold with the owner's name (Moracin) on the front cover. Some internal water staining, mostly to the margins; two pages with large losses (109, 339). Folio, 10 x 15.5 inches (25.5 x 39.5 cm).

First performed in 1680, Proserpine is the story of the abduction of Proserpina by Pluto, the god of the underworld. Several side plots involve other love affairs, between Ceres and Jupiter and between Alpheius and Arethusa; Ceres and Jupiter's affair was to be understood as a metaphor for Louis XIV and his mistress, Mme de Montespan.  Proserpine was the only work of Lully's edited by Jean-Baptiste Lully fils, after a dispute with Christophe Ballard (the publisher of Lully's first editions.)

"With Proserpine, composer Jean-Baptiste Lully returned to his collaboration with librettist Philippe Quinault, which had been interrupted when the poet was banned from Court for offending Madame de Montespan (the king's mistress) with unflattering references in Isis. By 1679, Quinault had been restored to favor. Proserpine was first performed at St. Germain-en-Laye in February of 1680. Though seventeenth-century audiences were familiar with the story of Proserpine being carried off into Hades from numerous ballets and stage plays, Quinault returned to the source in Ovid's Metamorphoses to embellish the plot. In addition to details drawn from Ovid, Quinault added some of his own, making Proserpine among the most convoluted of Lully's operas. While the prologue alludes to King Louis XIV in the guise of Jupiter, the play itself refers specifically to the king's recent victories over the Spanish and Dutch when Jupiter battles and defeats the giants. Robert Isherwood notes that Jupiter's trip to Phrygia may represent Louis' inspection of Flanders after its defeat in 1679." (University of North Texas, Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection)