Armide Fact Sheet
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Graphic from Armide (Paris: Ballard, 1686), p. 107

 

This first edition of the full score of Armide, commonly considered the greatest among the tragédies lyriques of composer Jean-Baptiste de Lully, was published in Paris in 1686 by the printing firm of the Ballard family. Armide, the seventh Lully opera published by Ballard, appeared in print the same year as the opera's premiere on February 15, 1686, and the year before Lully's death in March of 1687. Second editions were published by the Ballard firm in 1713 and 1718. A rival second edition, published in 1710 by the engraver H. de Baussen, was among several that caused a lawsuit which reinforced Ballard's control over French music printing in general and Lully's works in particular.

signature on inside cover

seals on inside cover

The 271-page NT print was published in folio, and measures 24 c. by 36 c. The music and text were printed by single impression from movable type, which the Ballard firm continued to use for some time after engraving had become popular for music printing. Wood-cut graphics added to the pages include Ballard's beautiful printing mark, and handsome title borders like the one above decorating the beginning of individual acts. A stamped symmetrical design which appears on p. lxij:
results from a provision in Lully's contract with Ballard which states that no copy could be sold unless it had been marked by Lully or one of his employees.

The book is in a contemporary full calf binding, with panelled spine containing gilt stamps and lettered title. The joints and spine piece are broken, the text block shaken, and the front and back show evidence of damage by vermin. The paper is in excellent condition with no sign of foxing.

For more detailed information on the 1686 Ballard edition of Armide, we recommend Chapter 1 of Lois Rosow's Lully's Armide at the Paris Opéra (Ph.D. dissertation, Brandeis University, 1981).

 

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