Molière and His Ballets:Recueil of 12 Librettos for Ballets and Mascarades in Paris, 1645-1669

From #10 Grand Divertissement

A collection of ballets and mascarades containing most of those created by Molière andpublished separately as itemized in Guibert*, Section II pp 490-548

Quarto. Full red morocco, raised bands, lettered in gilt “Recueil de Ballets,” marbled endpapers,pastedown with floral borders and triple-gilt rules. Edges gilt. Fine copy.

Bound by Belz-Niédrée (bindery founded by Jean-Edouard Niédrée in 1836), known for bindingin the style of the Renaissance and the era of Louis IV. After his death in 1864 and after a briefmoment when his widow ran the bindery, it was taken over by her son-in-law Phillip Belz,Frankfurt (born ca. 1831) (Flety, 136). Fine condition, each libretto separated by two blanksheets of stiff paper.

*Provenence: Bookplate of Albert-Jean Guibert, the Molière bibliographer and winner of1965 Prix Saintour, with his annotations in pencil and in pen, as well as, his clippings inserted

Price for the recueil $12,500

Early Ballet by Molière

1. Molière, Jean-Baptise Poquelin (1622-1672). Ballet de l’oracle de la Sibile de PansoustDansé au Palais Royal, & à l’Hotel de Luxembourg. Paris: Jean Bessin, 1645. Éditionoriginale. Lacroix 235; Guibert, 778-779; Lavalliere 64-65; Soleinne III, 3244n.

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; pp. 1-22, ballet with text in verse and stage directions,names of actors and scene setting in prose. Ballet of 18 entries created for Gaston d’Orléanscourt and danced at the Hotel du Luxembourg and then at the Palais Royale. While questions inthe past have been raised as to the authorship of this ballet, it is now certainly credited toMolière.

According to Fournel, the subject of this ballet is taken from Rabelais’ book (III, ch. 9), whichpresents an elaborate consultation between Panurge and Pantagruel as to whether or not Panurgeshould marry (261-275). This skit in Rabelais was used many times in burlesque ballets, farces,and comedies of the seventeenth century.

Regarding the authorship of this ballet, Henry Merivale Trollope documents relevant factspointing to Molière as the author; namely, that during 1645 (at the time of this performance),Molìere was under the patronage of Gaston d’Orléans. At that time, Molìere was also part of thetroupe l’Illustre Théâtre (88).

The attribution of Molière as author is made without question by A. H. Guibert, Molière’sbibliographer. Guibert notes that as director of l’Illustre Théâtre, Molìere was asked to produceballets frequently for the diversion of his protector Gaston. The text of this ballet shows “strikingsimilarities” to Molière’s Le Mariage force (778-779). Trollope writes, “At this time the troupe the Illustre Théâtre still retained the privilege ofbelonging to Son Altesse Royale Gaston, Duke of Orleans. Moliere’s troupe on 7 February 1645the duke (Gaston) gave a ball at the Luxembourg Palace and engaged his actors to entertain hisguests. It is not unlikely that on this occasion the ballet L’Oracle de Sybile . . . was danced andthat some members of Moliere’s troupe took part in it” (88).

Lacroix writes, “This ballet, which connoisseurs attribute to Molière, was danced in 1645 by thegentlemen and officers of Gaston d'Orleans. It is printed in ‘-‘, unnamed and undated, like mostballets in the repertoire of Monsieur, brother of the king, and it forms 12 pages. . . The copy wehave before us presents the names of the dancers, written in the margin; we did not fail to collectit. One of these names, which was not easy to decipher, can be read: Raiiere or Moliere” (VI,103).

Ref.: Trollope, Henry Merivale. The Life of Molière. London: Constable, 1905.

OCLC: BDF, FRBML.

With a Celebrated “Récit Turquesque”

2. Benserade (Isaac de). Ballet de la Revente des habits du ballet. S.l., n.d. 7pp. Éditionoriginale. Silin, 251-3 (ca. 1655); Beauchamps lists the ballet in 1655 on 6 January, but he lists itagain as being danced in 1661; La Vallière has it performed in 1661.

Pagination: Text, pp. 1-7, with title printed on top of P1 (collation matches Silin and Malkin).According to Silin, the music was by Lully (LWV5). Louis XIV probably danced in it.

Ballet in two parts of five entries each, the first part headed by a récit sung by Le Gros and thesecond by a “Récit Turquesque” (a ballet based on Turkish themes with costumes then in vogue), probably devised by Lully. Ballet music survives in several later copies of Benserade’s text(none with the “Recit Turquesque”). The colorful “Récit Turquesque” forming the second part ofthe ballet was a sensation.

Three peasants and three doctors exchange their clothes (and their attitude). They then dance theBallet very frivolously in a unique burlesque. Two dancers make fun of a bourgeois who vainlytries to execute steps with the same finesse. Two members of the guard’s regiment take theirrevenge on their master by disguising themselves as notaries in order to obtain money and throwtheir master into prison. Two cowards disguised as pirates correct a young man disguised as apolichinelle. The lad rebels. Two old men choose two girls for wives. The “young” and marriedlearn to dance the bourrée, but the neighbors invited to the wedding make a mess of the dance(Summary translated from http://sitelully.free.fr/b13.htm).

Much difficulty exists in dating the premiere of this short ballet. Beauchamps supposes that theballet danced by Louis XIV on January 6, 1655 in Mazarin’s apartment could be this one;Jérome de la Gorce, in Jean-Baptiste Lully (Paris: Favyard, 2002), quotes Loret as proof fordating the ballet in 1659 (375). Walsdorf notes, “In spite of the unknowns, we can say withconfidence that Lully performed a comic récit Turquesque for a ballet danced after a ball in theKing’s apartments in the Louvre in December 1660 citing Christout Le Ballet de cour de LouisXIV, 101 and Lecomte’s L’Orientalisme, 74” (370n).

Ref.: Malkin, Dancing by the Book (2003): dating the first performance as January 1655 (107.5).

OCLC: BDF, ESW (Citing Ballard publication 1671); North America: HTC, UPM, YUS.

Libretto for a Lost Mascarade

3. Mascarade des fripiers. Allans par les ruës, & se servants de leurs hait pour faire voir cequ’ils en ont à loüer pour le Carnaval. S.l., n.d., 4pp. (1551-1661). 4pp., including titleinformation.

The text of the mascarade appears to be a variation of or addition to Ballet de la revente deshabits du ballet (see item above) with many of the same characters. The text follows the Balletde la revente des habits du ballet on many points, with the same figures appearing in both. Forexample, both have an Entrée Les Contrefaits (ballet I.3; mascarade I.2) and an Entrée withDeux amants et deux Suivantes (ballet I.4; mascarade I.3). Both have six crocheteurs (ballet I.5;mascarade I.5), and both have a second part introduced by a Récit Turquesque devised by Lully.Both have an Entrée with three païsand and three doctors (ballet II.1; mascarade II.1), UnBourgeois révolté (ballet II.2; mascarade II.2), and deux viellards with deux jeunes filles (balletII. 5; mascarade II.3). This mascarade was probably done at Carnaval time.

This mascarade is alluded to in the Philidor collection (noted in Silin, 251): “Curiously enoughthe Philidor collections records this ballet in two different places calling it, the first time ‘Balletde la Revante des Habits...donné par Mr. Le Cardinal Richelieu [sic!] au Palais Royal et dansédevant le Roy l’an 1655’; and, the second time ‘Ballet de la Revante des Habits de Ballet et de laMascarade dansé devant le Roy au Palais Cardinal par’ [bold face mine].” Silin suggests thatthe dates “must be but slips of the pen made by the Library of Congress’ weary copyist.”

It seems reasonable to suggest that the Mascarade des fripiers was done for Carnival in 1655 or1661.

Not in OCLC.

No Castrato Singing for Louis XIV

4. Xersès, Comedie en musique del Signor Francesco Cavalli. Avect six Entrées de balletqui servent d’intermede à la Comedie. Paris: Ballard, 1660. Original edition. Beauchamps, 68;Christout, 263; Soleinne III, no. 3377; La Vallière, 79 (who notes, “Represented on November22, 1660 in the high gallery of the Louvre”); Sartori 25241. Music by Lully (LWV 12). Librettoby Nicolò Minato (1627?-1698). Translator unknown.

Overture, Prologue, and six entries in verse with scenic material in prose. First performed inVenice on January 12, 1655 in the Santi Giovanni e Paolo theatre. Pagination: Leaf of title, versoblank; pp. 3-7, Argument; pp. 8-11, argument in verse in Italian and French; pp. 12-13, list ofactors; pp. 14-17, Prologue in verse in Italian and French; pp. 18- 40, scene description in Frenchin prose of each of the six entrées of including the names of the actors.

Based on Xerse (opera composed by Venetian Francesco Cavalli; librettist, Nicolò Minato; firstperformed in Venice on January 12, 1654 at the Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo). The opera was revised in Paris in 1660 and entitled Xersès, Comedie en musique for the wedding of LouisXIV and Maria Theresa of Spain.

It was performed on November 22, 1660 in the Louvre’s Petite Galerie. As a result, Jean-Baptiste Lully (then still going by the name of Giambattista Lulli) composed the dance musicwhose entrées were to be performed during the opera. It is very likely that the composer Cavalliwas involved in the final adaptation of Xerse for Paris, and that he directed the performancesfrom the harpsichord (as he was used to doing in Venice). In 1660, Cavalli was persuaded totravel to France to produce this opera. He soon became entangled in court intrigue which ensuredthat the projected opera, Ercole amante, was not ready in time and had to be replaced by therevision of Xerse, Xersès, Comedie en musique, at the last minute. The whole spectacle lastedeight or nine hours.

The revised French libretto is divided into five acts (instead of the three acts of the Venetianversion), like the five acts of a French classical play, with a new prologue (a common practice inthe reprising of an opera in a different context), composed citing the occasion of the royalwedding. Most of the comic scenes in which the two pages Elviro and Clito appear were deleted.This, too, was a bow to French classical theatre, in which the serious and the comic belonged toseparate genres.

Originally, the role of Xerse was sung by an alto castrato, which did not seem appropriate at thetime, since the character was associated with Louis XIV himself. Consequently, the role of LouisXIV was transposed to an octave lower for a more masculine voice, so that the king wasrepresented to the courtly audience in a dignified way. Xerse therefore marks the first time insung French theatre that a deep masculine voice was used to fashion the sovereign’s image(http://www.lesdossiersducmbv.fr/en/xerse/).

OCLC: HAB, DETUL FRCBF, BDF. No locations North America.

With Louis XIV Dancing the Role of Alexander

5. Ballet royal de la naissance de Vénus. Dansée devant sa Majesté le 26. De Janvier 1665. Paris: Ballard, 1665. Édition originale. Christout, 265, no. 26-1; Loret IV, 305; Beauchamps III,71-72; Silin, 342. Music by Lully (LWV 27) who composed an overture and a ritournelle;choreography by P. Beauchamps; stage design by C. Vigarani; libretto by Benserade.

Mascarade in two parts, with 12 entrées, concentrated in one day. First performed at the Palaisau Louvre, Paris, on January 26, 1665. The ballet was to celebrate the son of his sister,“Madame,” Phillippe-Charles d’Orleans, duc de Valois, July 16, 1664.

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; pp. 3-7, argument in prose; pp. 8 -52, text of mascarade inverse; stage directions and plot descriptions in prose with actors’ names (including professionalactors). Named actors include “Monsieur,” Madame, Madame de Montespan, and Le Roy.

“Since the king himself intended to dance in it, it was to be a regular ballet royal in all respects”(Silin, 33). Ninety-six people, including 38 professional dancers, participated in this ballet. In thefinal entrée of this ballet, the King and “Madame” danced together representing Alexander andRoxana. Benserade innovates by having each lady speaking a line of the envoi in the form of aconversation, instead of the usual method of having a single speaker. This innovation wassuccessful and used again in the Ballets des Muses (see below). OCLC: DBF, G4V, DEDDS, FRBML; North America: CLU, FUG, HHG.

6. Le Triomphe de Bacchus dans les Indes. Mascarade. Dansée devant sa Majesté le 9.Janvier 1666. Paris: Ballard, 1666. Original edition. Beauchamps III, 72; La Vallière. Ballet-mascarade en six entrées danced at l’Hôtel de Créqui* before le Roi, le 9 janvier 1666. AMascarade danced before the king at the Palais royale in an engagement ceremony for marquisde Roure to le demoiselle d’Artigny, daughter of honor of the archbishop of Valence. The musicis by Jean-Baptiste Lully (LWV 30). Libretto by Jean Donneau de Visé (1638-1710).

“A comédie-heroïque that takes place upon Bacchus' triumphant return to the island of Naxosafter his conquest of India which features numerous musical interludes which grown out of thepreceding action . . . It seems to have been inspired by the design of Molière’s tragédie-ballet”(Powell, 278).

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; 3- in verse with scene descriptions in prose. Actors named,including Louis XIV as Bacchus in the last entry. The last entrée features a chanson de lanymphe de l’Inde et de Silene, ensemble.

*François de Blanchefort de Créquy de Bonne1, marquis de Marines, known as the Maréchal deCréquy (1625-1687). He was a marshal in the navy during the “thirty years war” (Lavallière, 79).The mascarade was also danced at l’Hôtel de Créqui. As a result it also is known as Ballet deCréquy ou Le Triomphe de Bacchus dans les Indes. OCLC: DEDDS, BDF; No NorthAmerican locations.

Many Roles Acted by Molière

7. Le Ballet des muses. Dansé par sa Majesté àson Chasteau de S. Germain en Laye le 2.Decembre 1666. Paris: Ballard, 1666-7.Definitive edition (éd. E). Guibert 501-502.

Libretto by I. de Benserade with cooperation ofMolière (some verses are thought to be PhilippeQuinault [1635-1688]). Molière contributedthree comedies to this ballet: Mèlicerte, laPastorale comique, and the final entrèe LeSicilien ou L’Amour Peintre, first performedprobably on February 9 or 10, 1667 (LancasterIIII, 706), The original third entrèe for thisballet, Mélicerte, unfinished in two of three acts,

was replaced at the beginning of January 1667 by Pastorale comique because of an internecinefeud among the company. The text of Mélicerte was never finished or published duringMolière’s life time. The music (not included here) was composed by Lully (LWV 32). While thelibretto shows that Molière played Dom Pèdre, Mme Paul Poison asserted that he played anumber of roles in the ballet (qtd. in Lancaster III, 22).

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; pp. 1-48 containing the general argument and descriptionsof the 13 entries, interspersed with different parts in verse of the ballet, followed by “Verses onthe person & character of those who dance ballet.” Pp. 29-60 bound out of order after page 20 inLe Grand Divertissement Royale de Versailles (see no. 10 below) noted by Guibert with hismanuscript identifications inserted before title and at p. 29 of Divertissement.

Collation: (same as edition E, Guibert foldout chart between pp. 498-99): 1f recto title, versoblanc; text commence p. 3 end une premiere fois page 47; p. 47 verso blanc, La paginationrecommence page 29 et finit page 60; Comédie du Sicilien. pp. 37-47, soit 1 pages avec un versoblanc; b. A signaler que la page 32 is numbered 33 in the second part.

Le Ballet des muses in fourteen entrèes was performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in manydifferent versions between December 2, 1666 and February 19, 1667. Ballet des muses had beenwritten to celebrate the end of the period of mourning that followed the death of the QueenMother, Anne of Austria. Louis and members of his court remained at Saint-Germain during theentire festivity. Performers included La Troupe du Roy (Molière’s company) and the companyof the Hôtel de Bourgogne, as well as Italian actors and also musicians, including Lully. Asusual, dancers were the King Louis XIV, Madame, Mademoiselle de La Valliere, and Madamede Montespan.

OCLC: BDF, G4V, EDDS, DESWL, FRBML; North America: UPM AN#.

Characters from the StreetsDanced by the King

8. Le Carnaval. Mascarade Royale. Dansée par sa Majesté le dix-huitiéme Janvier 1668. Paris:Ballard, 1668. Édition originale. Libretto Isaac de Benserade (Silin, 380); Music by Jean-Baptiste Lully (LWV 36).

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; 3pp. introduction including list of performers (Lullyincluded) with names of the grands and petits violons, as well as flutes; 1p. recit du carnaval; pp.7-14, text of mascarade including dancers who performed; 1p. half title Vers pour lespersonnages de la Mascarade Royale du Carnaval, verso blank; pp. 17-2, lyrics in verse for theparticipants, including Plaisir pour le Roy. Mascarade in seven entrées plus dramatic dialogue.

This mascarade in seven entrée was performed on January 18, 1668 at the Louvre, as part of thefestivities which followed the successful Flanders campaign.“The general idea of this ballet is . .. to entertain a great monarch who has just returned from a glorious campaign” (Silin, 381). Itwas also performed at St. Germain-en-laye with additions. Dancers included the King, the comted’Armagnac, prince de Vaudemont, marquis de Villeroy.

As a novelty, the ballet featured characters and scenes completely grounded in the contemporaryworld with the “pleasures” of gamblers, gourmets, dancing masters, ‘masques ridicules’ withbizarre costumes and grotesque costumes” (Silin, 381). This was an exciting innovation for thetragédie en musique or the pastorale which were usually peopled with gods from the ancientworld.

When contemporary subjects found their way onto the stage of the Académie Royale de Musique“the range of expressive possibilities at the Opéra was broadened in a single stroke” (Harris-Warwick, 163 referring to the staging of Le Carnival in 1700).

OCLC: BDF, FRBML, UKM; One in North America: UIU (imperfect copy).

With Moliere’s Own Summary ofComédie Plainte en musique de Cloris (Later Called George Dandin)

9. Relation de la feste de Versailles. Du dix-huitiéme Juillet mil six cens soixante-huit. Paris:Pierre Le Petit, 1668. Édition originale. Guibert, 510; Lavailliere, 82; Beauchamps III, 75.Author of this summary of the festival is André Félibien, Historiographer of the King.* Pp. 18-25 consist of a summary written by Molière of a combination of farce and court ballet, whichwas performed for 2000 people the evening of July 18th.

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; pp. 3-60, summary of the festival in prose, with occasionalverse; 1p. privilege dated 12 August 1668 signed Soubron. The festival at Versailles of 1668celebrates the victory of Louis XIV over Spain, the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the connectionof several Flemish places—Douai, Lille, Dunkirk—to France. This festival was held on the 18thof July, 1668 where Moliere's Comédie Plainte en musique de Cloris (later called GeorgeDandin), formed the chief entertainment as part of a pastoral ballet, for which the music wascomposed by Jean-Baptiste Lully.

The plot of George Dandin was taken from an earlier farce of Molière, La Jalousie duBarbouille. Molière very likely thought that the plot was too slight for this festival, so he addeda second idea, namely, the danger of inequality of rank or education in marriage (DramaticWorks II, 517). The comedy ended with the Bacchanale of the Festivals of Love and Bacchus,with over 100 singers, dancers, and instrumentalists on the stage, performing the work’s finalcadence (Gaines, 197). The music is by Lully (LWV 38). Gaines writes that Molière most likely played the title role, with Armande Béjart in the role ofAngélique (196-199). From its premiere at Versailles, the play has been performed (many timeswithout its ballets) over 1200 times at the Comédie Française.

In this performance, Molière and Lully made the innovation of intercalated a spoken comedy inthree acts. According to Félibien, the two comedies (one in prose, the other in verse) are “so welljoined to a common subject [the ongoing battle between the sexes] that they are the self-samepiece and depict but a single action” (qtd. in Powell, 204). This format of the parallel ongoingpastorale in music was abandoned after George Dandin (205).

* Félibien, André, Lord of Avaux and Javersy (1619-1695). Historian and art critic. Secretary ofEmbassy in Rome with the Marquis of Fontenay-Mareuil, he was linked with Poussin, thenbecame, in 1666, historiographer of the king and his buildings, arts, and manufactures of France.In 1671, he became the secretary of the Academy of Architecture. In these various roles, hegives descriptions of the royal festivals, Versaille, and the collections of the crown. Consideredone of the main theorists of classicism, Félibien is the author of numerous books on the lives andmain works of the finest ancient and modern painters

Ref.: The Dramatic Works of Molière (1879), vol. 2, Introductory note to George Dandin.

OCLC: DEDDS, DEUGEG, BDF; No North American locations.

10. Grand divertissement royal de Versailles.Paris: Ballard, 1668. Original edition. Guibert, 505;Tchmerzine VIII, 342. With foreword written byMolière. According to Guibert, this “is the same asthe description of George Dandin in Relation de lafeste de Versailles (item above) except that it ismore detailed and complete. It also includes thetext of the Intermèdes of George Dandin that“must have been written by Molière himself”(505).

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; pp. 3-18, account of Sujet de la Comedie qui se doit faire àla grande Feste de Versailles; pp. 19-20, actors and singers; (pp 29-60 bound out of order fromLe Ballet des muses. Paris, Ballard, 1666, so noted by Guibert with manuscript notes insertedbefore title and at p. 29 of Divertissement) (see item no. 7).

OCLC: BDF, FRCBF, FRBML, BLSTP, G4V, UKM; North America: AN#, YUS, UIU.

11. La Grotte de Versailles Eclogue en Musique.S.l., n.d. Original edition.* Lavallière, 82. Libretto byPhilippe Quinault; music by Jean-Baptiste Lully(LWV 39).

Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; pp. 3-14, text inverse with commentary in prose. Singers and dancersnamed p. 4.

In 1668, Lully and Quinault began their collaborationon "La Grotte de Versailles," an idyllic poem set togorgeous music to please the king. It was inspired bythe Grotte de Thetis, erected in 1665-66, whose wallswere lined with shells, pebbles, and colored stones.The grotto was destroyed during Versailles’renovation in 1684.

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With chorus and three entrées, La Grotte de Versailles is much like a ballets du cour, in which Louis XIV danced alongside courtiers as well as professionals dancers. It is also a “festerustique” (p. 3) in the manner of a pastorale. Highlights include a dancing ensemble with theKing (p. 9) and a very beautiful duo of the shepherds, Silvandre and Coridon, who speak openlyabout the return of “Louis.” The famous Daphnis' song “Come near these fountains” is originaland must have been based on the sound of the original fountains (p. 9). Also the song of thenightingales is played by a complex group of flutes, oboes, and musettes (p. 13).

The librettist Phillipe Quinault (1635-1688), educated by the François Tristan “l’Hermite”(1602-1655), was a dramatist, poet, and novelist. Quinault wrote plays until about 1670 when heturned to opera then wrote libretti for Lully. He is thought to have introduced “dramatic action inthe old ballets” (Hervey and Heseltine, 585). La Grotte de Versailles Eclogue en Musique ismentioned by Quinault in his letter to Louis XIV in 1684. It is the first work for the court ofwhich we can be certain that he made all the words and, no doubt, the design of the whole.

The Eclogue of Versailles was staged many times in the 17th century alone. It was performed in 1674 in a temporary setting located near the Trianon of Porcelain during the great Versaillesfestival of 1674. It was performed in a salon after the supper given in the Grove of the Salle desFestins in 1685 under the title of l’Eglogue de Versailles, preceded by l’Idille sur la pais at theCourt of Versailles; then at the Royal Palace, under the title of the Eclogue of Versailles. On July7, 1696, it was performed again at the Royal Palace under the title The Grotto of Versailles(incomplete list). The memorable and touching air ending with a chorus, "La Grotte deVersailles," remained one of Lully's most popular works and has not faded to this day.

Bibliography (same text except for variations of orthography and punctuation):

*BDF has a copy with a Ballard, 1668 imprint(https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1520327m); BDF has second copy with same title as ours (https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1520329f).

OCLC: BDF: DEDDS; FRBML; No locations North America.

Louis XIV’s Last Dance (Almost)

12. Ballet royal de Flore. Dansé par sa Majesté le mois de Février 1669. Paris: Ballard, 1669.62pp. Édition originale. Silin, 384-391, who notes “it is quite probable that Ballard printed newlivrets, or additions to the old, to include the new elements”; LaVallière, 83, lists it as a ballet “àquinze entrées”; Beauchamps III, 84, describes his copy as “augmenté de nouveaux récits.Danced on February 13, 1669; in le Grand Salon des Tuileries.” Libretto by Benserade; music byLully (LWV 40). .

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Pagination: Leaf of title, verso blank; 3pp. argument; 1p. L’Auteur des verse du Ballet; pp. 3-35,54-62, Ballet in 14* entries, followed by a “Hommage des quatre Parties du Monde” with fourquadrilles and followed by “Grands, & Petits Violons” in four quadrilles, the last danced by“Cinq hommes Ameriquains.”

Silin notes that Ballet royal de Flore differs from preceding Benserade ballets in the unusuallylarge number of sung récits. After the king’s final appearance, in the last entry, the “Four Partsof the World” is sung as an homage to Madame. This is the last ballet of Benserade’s in whichthe king dances. The king dances before his court only once more: as Neptune and Apollo in thefirst and fifth entries of Molière’s Amants magnifiques at the first performance February 4, 1670.

OCLC: BDF, G4V, BNM, FRBML, DEGWL; North America: STF, IBV, BRL, HHG, UPM.

References: Beauchamps, Pierre-François Godard de. Recherches sur les Théâtres de France,Depuis l’Année Onze Cens Soixante et un Jusques à Présent. Paris: Prault, 1735 (facsimile byNabu); Christout, Marie-Françoise. Le Ballet de Cour de Louis XIV, 1643-1672, Mises en SceÌne.Paris: Picard et Cie, 1967; Cowart, Georgia J. The Triumph of Pleasure: Louis XIV and thePolitics of Spectacle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008; Fournel, Victor. LesContemporains de Molière. Paris: Didot, 1863-75; Gaines, James F. The Molière Encyclopedia.Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002; Guest, Ivor. The Paris Opéra Ballet. Alton,Hampshire: Dance Books, 2006; Guibert, A.J. Bibliographie des Oeuvres de Molière, Publiéesau XVIIe Siècle. Paris: E ìd. du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1977;

Harris-Warrick, Rebecca. Dance and Drama in French Baroque Opera: A History. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2016; Harvey, Sir Paul and Janet E. Heseltine. The OxfordCompanion to French Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959; Lacroix, Paul. Ballets etMascarades de Cour de Henri III aÌ Louis XIV (1581-1652). Geneva: Turin, 1870; Lajarte,Théodore. BibliotheÌque Musicale du The ìa8tre de l'Ope ìra: Catalogue Historique,Chronologique, Anecdotique. Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1878 (facsimile by GeorgeOlms); Lancaster, Henry Carrington. A History of French Dramatic Literature in theSeventeenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1929-1942; LaValliere, Le Duc Louis-César de La-Beaume-le-Blanc. Ballets, Opeìra, et Autres Ouvrages Lyriques. Paris: Bauche, 1760(Reprint: London: Baron, 1967); Malkin, Mary Ann O’Brian and Moira Goff. Dancing by theBook: A Catalogue of Books 1531-1804 in the Collection of Mary Ann O'Brian Malkin. NewYork: Malkin, 2003; McCabe, Ina Baghdianzt. Orientalism in Early Modern France: EurasianTrade, Exoticism, and the Ancien Régime. Oxford: Berg, 2008; Pitou, Spire. The Paris Opeìra:An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Volume I. Westport, Conn.:1983; Powell, John S. Music and Theatre in France, 1600-1680. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000; Silin, Charles I. Benserade and his Ballets de Cour. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1940; Trollope,Henry Merivale. The Life of Molière. London: Constable, 1905.

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