MONNET, Jean, ed. 1703-1785

Anthologie Françoise ou Chansons Choisies, Depuis le 13e Siécle jusqu'à présent ... Tome I [-III]

[Paris]: [Barbou], 1765.

3 volumes. Octavo. Full mid-tan polished calf with spine in decorative compartments gilt, titling gilt, marbled endpapers.

Vol. I: 1f. (frontispiece), 1f. (title), 7 ("Avertissement"), [i] ("Explication des Figures"), 1f. (engraved plate), 64 ("Memoire historique"), 1f. (engraved plate), 310 (engraved music), 311-318 (song index) pp. Typeset. With 3 engraved plates: A bust-length frontispiece portrait of Monet by Aug. de St. Aubin after C.N. Cochin dated 1765; and "Les Rois, les Troubadours sont en correspondance..." and "Thibaut fut Roi" by N. le Mire after H. Gravelot.

Vol. II: 1f. (half-title), 1f. (frontispiece), 1f. (title), 310 (engraved music), 311-317 (index), [i] (blank) pp. With a frontispiece engraving of the 3 Graces by le Mire after Gravelot.

Vol. III: 1f. (half-title), 1f. (frontispiece), 1f. (title), 313 (engraved music), 314-320 (index) pp. With a frontispiece engraving of Venus, Amour, and Bacchus by le Mire after Gravelot.

Contains 1- to 5-part melodies with French texts underlaid. With decorative woodcut head- and tailpieces throughout.

Binding slightly worn, rubbed and bumped. Lightly foxed, heavier to some leaves; occasional minor staining and signs of wear; some light browning. An attractive, wide-margined copy overall.

First Edition. RISM BII, p. 92.

The present Anthologie was Mozart's source for his two romances with French texts, the Oiseaux si tous les ans, and Dans un bois solitaire.

Monnet, the editor of the present volume, was a French impresario and writer. "According to his memoirs (Supplément au roman comique, 1772) he led a colourful but dissolute life for some years, was imprisoned briefly in 1741 for publishing scurrilous literature (Les annales amusantes), and thereafter embarked on a series of theatrical enterprises... [He] has been credited with a number of librettos but only L’inconséquente, ou Le fat dupé (1787) can be attributed to him with certainty. His edition of the Anthologie françoise (1765) is of historical value to the study of French folklore." Elisabeth Cook in Grove Music Online.

We would like to thank Graham Johnson for his kind assistance in the cataloguing of this item.

Item #25076

Price: $650.00  other currencies