LE SAGE ALAIN RENÉ; et al Le Théâtre de la Foire 9 vols in

Sale 2111 - Lot 233

Price Realized: $ 660

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Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600

LE SAGE, ALAIN-RENÉ; et al. Le Théâtre de la Foire. 85 engraved plates; 637 pages of engraved music. Requisite half-titles present. 9 volumes in 10. 8vo, contemporary mottled calf gilt with morocco lettering pieces, varying wear to spine ends, cover corners worn through; occasional toning or browning. Paris: Pierre Gandouin, 1724-37

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Collection of libretti of popular entertainments performed on the grounds of the annual fairs of St. Germain and St. Laurent in Paris. "Lesage . . . produced a constant stream of farces and operettas, as well as pièces à écriteaux for the Théâtre de la Foire Saint-Germain. The latter were musical comedies in which écriteaux (scrolls of canvas) bore in large print the couplets to be sung, along with the names of the characters supposed to sing them. The écriteau was unrolled downward as the orchestra played well-known popular tunes, while the audience sang the lines and the actors mimed the action. That performing method was used to bypass the royal edicts granting the right to pronounce the lines of a play onstage exclusively to royally sponsored acting companies, such as the Comédie française" (DLB). Pages [167]-199 of Volume 1 contain Le Sage's Le Tombeau de Nostradamus. Cohen-de Ricci 637-39.