6. Arteaga, Esteban.
Vol. I. LE RIVOLUZIONI / DEL / TEATRO MUSICALE / ITALIANO
/ DALLA SUA ORIGINE FINO AL PRESENTE / OPERA
/ DI STEFANO ARTEAGA / MADRIDENSE / TOMO PRIMO. /
Il faut se rendre a ce Palais magique, / Ou les beaux vers, la dance, la
musique, / L'art de tromper les yeux par les couleurs, / L'art plus heureux
de seduire les coeurs, / De cent plaisirs font un plaisir unique. /
BOLOGNA MDCCLXXXIII / Per la Stamperìa di Carlo Trenti all'
Insegna / di Sant' Antonio. /
Con licenza de' Superiori.
Small 8vo. Title page ([i]); dedication (iii-x); note (xi); table of contents
(xii-xiv); license (1 leaf); text (1-411); errata (1 leaf).
Vol. II. LE RIVOLUZIONI / . . . / MADRIDENSE / TOMO SECONDO.
/ BOLOGNA MDCCLXXXV. / . . .
Small 8vo. Title page ([iii]); dedication (v-xii); table of contents (xiiixiv);
license (1 leaf); text (1-207).
Vol. III. LE RIVOLUZIONI / . . . / MADRIDENSE / TERZO
ED ULTIMO TOMO / Arricchito delle Repliche fatte alle / Osservazioni
dell' Autore intorno / ad un' Estratto del Tomo II. /
BOLOGNA MDCCLXXXVIII / . . . .
Small 8vo. Title page ([iii]); dedication (v-ix); note (x-xii); errata
(xiv); imprimatur (unnumbered p.); half title (1 leaf); folded leaf of
music; text ([1]-216).
Esteban Arteaga (1747-99), a Spanish Jesuit, emigrated to Italy on the
suppression of his order. He went later to Paris where he died. He wrote,
in addition to the Rivoluzioni, the Investigaciones filosoficas sobre la
belleza ideal (Madrid, 1789) and Dell' influenza degli Arabi sull' origine
della poesia moderna in Europa (Rome, 1791).
The first edition of the Rivoluzioni was issued in 1783 in two volumes.
It was later expanded into three, and letters on the subject by
François Arnaud (1721-84) and Vicenzo Manfredini (1737-99) were
included. The first volume discusses such subjects as the nature of musical
drama, the origins of sacred music, profane music, opera seria, and
opera buffo, the progress of melody, and the introduction of eunuchs into
music, as well as giving a survey of the Italian musical scene. The second
volume discusses the decadence of Italian opera, the causes lying in
the vanity and ignorance of the singers and the abandonment of musical
poetry. The third volume is a continuation of the discussion in Vol. II
and includes letters from Arnaud and Manfredini. The entire work has
been called an acute and diligent book.
Jefferson owned and sold to Congress the three-volume edition of
Arteaga which was published in Venice in 1785, but the date of purchase
is not known. He ordered all three volumes for the University, in the
section on "Gardening. Painting. Sculpture. Music" of the want list, but
only two were received and these have not survived. The library's present
set, with the volumes dated 1783, 1785, and 1788, is a recent acquisition,
the gift of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.
U. Va.
*ML1733.3.A7.1783
M
Sowerby 4256
