Le Droit du seigneur. Comédie en trois actes et en prose - Martini, Jean-Paul-Égide 1741-1816; Voltaire 1694-1778 (Paris Brunet, 1783)
see Map.004i for a selection of airs of this opera
Droit du seigneur ('right of the lord'), also known as ius primae noctis ('right of the first night'), was a supposed legal right in medieval Europe, allowing feudal lords to have sexual relations with subordinate women, in particular, on the wedding nights of the women. Voltaire mentioned the practice in his Dictionnaire philosophique, published in 1764. He wrote the five-act comedy 'Le droit du seigneur' or 'L'écueil du sage' in 1762, although it was not performed until 1779, after his death. This play was the first time the term droit du seigneur was used.
Brown leather binding, gilded ornamentations, red edges & marbled endpapers
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Opera; France