| |
| Id |
18360 |
| Category |
antiquarian book |
| Author / Composer |
CAHUSAC, Jean-Louis de (1706-1759) |
| Title |
La Danse Ancienne et Moderne, ou Traité Historique de la Danse. Tome Premier [-Troisieme]. |
| Place |
A La Haye |
| Publisher |
Chez Jean Neaulme |
| Publication Date |
1754 |
| ISBN / Plate No. |
|
| Series |
|
| Size |
Small 12mo. [i (title)], xxxii, [iv (contents)], 168, [xvi (index)]; [i (title)], 180, [xvi (index)]; [i (title)], 168, [xii (index)] pp. |
| Description |
Polished mottled calf, with leather label, gilt. Early ex libris on inside cover. Derra de Moroda writes "One of the most important histories of the dance, quoted by Noverre and many dance historians". The three volumes include discussion on the dances of several civilizations, pantomime, mime, various ballets, Quinault, Lully, contemporary dancers (including Marie Sallé) and the influence of Louis XIV and Versailles on dance. In the final volume he gives an entire chapter to the principal action of ballet, another to dance and a further chapter to the creation of the French opera. Cahusac, initially a librettist and playwright, turned his attention to opera and was Rameau’s principal collaborator from 1743. "Of all Rameau’s librettists he was the most consistently successful in making the obligatory divertissement seem not only appropriate to the action but essential to it. Keen that ballet should be more effectively integrated with the drama than it had formerly been he devised numerous opportunities for pantomime, in which the degree of detail in his stage directions for the ballets was unprecedented" (NG). |
| Reference |
RISM B/VI/1 p.196, listing just two copies in Great Britain and four in the United States. de Moroda 515. |
| Price |
£650.00 |
|
