VENDU
8vo (186 x 122 mm) of 2 unn.l. ( half-title and title), 68 pp. Red morocco, cover decorated with a large gilt decoration framing covers, four gilt stars on the corners, in the centre an emblem decorated with the Earl’s crown, in the centre a gilt star on a green morocco mosaic, spine gilt with raised bands, the caissons repeating the star motif in their centre, inner roll, blue paper endpapers with semis of stars and gilt dots (contemporary binding).
1 in stock
Cioranescu, XVIIIe, II, 43039 ; Fétis, IV, 104 ; Tchemerzine-Scheler, IV, 445.
Edition of the Libretto published in the year of the performance. One of the rare works bound for the future Tzar Paul 1st during his stay in Paris in 1782, under the title of Comte du Nord.
Zemire et Azor was an immediate success, this Persian adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s Beauty and the Beast appealed enormously to the public.
‘Grétry’s imagination showed itself in all its freshness; never had it been richer in happy songs than in this opera’ (Fétis).
This comedy-ballet is dedicated to the Countess du Barry. It was first performed before the court at Fontainebleau on 9 November 1771, then revived at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris.
Our copy provides details of the performance at the Comédie Italienne. On the verso of the title page, the list of actors has been corrected. An addition of paper masks the role of ‘a fairy’ and hides some of the actors’ printed names, correcting them with a handwritten note. Thus the role of Sander is played by M. Narbonne, Ali by M. Trial, Zémir by Mme Trial, Fatmé by Mlle Billioni and Lisbé by Mlle Colombe.
An exceptional copy bound with the emblem of the Comte du Nord, who became Tzar of Russia under the name of Paul 1st (1754-1801).
The son of Catherine II and Peter III, Paul was systematically distanced from business and kept under close surveillance by his mother. He married Princess Dorothée of Wurtemberg, who took the Russian name of Marie Feodorovna, and travelled with her extensively in Poland, Germany, Italy and France, travelling incognito under the name of the ‘Count of the North’. Intelligent and witty, he left the best impression everywhere. During their visit to France in 1782, the ‘Count’ and the ‘Countess of the North’ were sumptuously received and entertained by the royal family, the princes and the great lords of the court. Fascinated by French art, the couple made numerous purchases from the finest Parisian craftsmen. Marquetry furniture from the cabinetmaker David Roentgen, more than 200 chairs commissioned from Georges Jacob, four large paintings by Hubert Robert, tapestries from the Gobelins and Beauvais manufactures, porcelain from Sèvres and a large number of books bound with the Count’s emblem, the North Star, were bought or commissioned in France and then set off for Russia.
Catherine II had a seal engraved for her son Paul, featuring the North Star, certainly taken from the insignia of the Swedish Order of the North Star. It is this star that appears on the volume, gilded on a green morocco mosaic, within a gilded escutcheon.
Tchemerzine describes another edition of this text in 1771 with an addition of 8 pp. of music published by Ballard.
Tear in the upper margin of page 49 without affecting the text.
A very fine copy with a prestigious provenance.
Monday to Saturday
10am – 1pm and 2:30pm – 7pm
(6pm Monday and Saturday)
© 2023 All rights reserved.