L’oracle pastorale pour la feste de M***
Publisher: France: 1780-1820.
Illustration: None (manuscript in a single hand)
Edition: Unique manuscript (autograph or scribal copy), late 18th–early 19th century
Binding: Contemporary green paper-covered boards, spine plain, edges stained red. Some rubbing, corners worn, but binding intact and attractive for a manuscript of this type.
Description: Unique French manuscript pastoral play of approximately 80 pages, composed in verse for the fête of “M***.” Likely written for private performance in a noble or wealthy household during the late 18th or early 19th century, the work embodies the enduring tradition of pastoral entertainments as courtly or salon amusements.
Condition: Very Good for a manuscript. Binding rubbed and worn, green paper boards faded, corners bumped. Pages clean, legible, written in a neat single hand. Black wax seal intact on title page.
Annotation: Unique French manuscript fête play, c.1780–1820, with black wax seal on title suggesting noble commission. Pastoral verse drama for private performance, an uncommon survival of aristocratic salon culture. A miniature private opera of love and joy — written to be sung at an 18th-century noble’s fête, blending poetry, music, and flattery in pastoral style.
Item #181
Price: $3,500.00