Le Maitre a danser, qui enseigne la maniere de faire tous les differens pas de la Danse dans toute la refularite de l'Art, & de conduire les Bras a chaque Pas...nouvelle edition
Paris: Jean Villette, 1734. 8vo (185 x 120 mm). 51 (of 59) etched plates, including frontispiece and one folding plate (tape repaired). (Lacks 8 plates, one blank margin with large chip, occasional minor soiling.) Contemporary French calf gilt (rebacked preserving original spine, new endpapers). Provenance: Four pages of early manuscript notes on rear endpages. Item #410121
The Edward Tufte copy, with book label
Second edition. Although he was a dancer, Rameau is best known as the author of two important treatises. His first, Le maitre a danser, was originally published in 1725 and reissued in 1734. It is today considered one of the most eminent sources for the study and reconstruction of eighteenth-century dance technique. Part one focuses on the appropriate manner of walking, feet positions, and bows, and it describes a large vocabulary of steps. In 1728, English dancing master and writer John Essex (ca 1680-1744) translated Rameau's work into English as The Dancing-Master: or, The Art of Dancing Explained. Leslie, p. 439 ("Other editions of Le Maitre a Danser of 1734 and 1748 sometimes have a different number of plates").
Price: $3,500.00