Libretto For Lully’s Opera *thésée*, Performance On December 8, 1765, At Madame Adélaïde’s *les Armes*

THÉSÉE, an opera by Philippe Quinault and Jean-Baptiste Lully
Official program for the performance given at the Royal Academy of Music on December 8, 1765
Paris, Delormel, Printer to the Royal Academy of Music, 1765
Rare program (libretto) printed for the performance of Thésée, a musical tragedy by Philippe Quinault and Jean-Baptiste Lully, performed at the Royal Academy of Music on December 8, 1765, during the reign of Louis XV. Premiered in 1675 before the Court, Thésée remains one of Lully’s greatest successes. Its revival in 1765 illustrates the prominent place that Lully’s repertoire still held nearly a century after its creation. These librettos were sold at the entrance to the Opera to allow audience members to follow the progression of the performance, including the scenes, choruses, and interludes. The volume is preserved here in a sumptuous red morocco binding from the period, adorned on the covers with a gold-tooled fleur-de-lis pattern and a supralibros bearing the coat of arms of France: a shield in the shape of a diamond bearing three fleurs-de-lis, surmounted by a royal crown and surrounded by a laurel wreath. This binding bears the hallmarks of copies produced for the libraries of the Mesdames de France, and more specifically for Madame Adélaïde (1732–1800), the fourth daughter of Louis XV. The choice of red morocco leather, combined with a program from the Royal Academy of Music, perfectly matches the tastes of this princess, a great music lover and a loyal patron of performances at Court and at the Royal Academy. It is therefore highly likely that this copy was intended for Madame Adélaïde’s personal library after the performance—a common practice among members of the royal family, who had the programs of the performances they attended bound.
A fine copy, printed on laid paper, preserved in its original coat-of-arms binding. In-4, Paris, 1765. Red morocco leather of the period, richly decorated ribbed spine, gilt edges.
This volume is at once: a record of an evening at the opera during the reign of Louis XV; a historical document of the Royal Academy of Music; a remarkable example of 18th-century princely heraldic binding;a work intended for the library of Madame Adélaïde, daughter of Louis XV and one of the most important bibliophiles of her time.