Jephté. Tragédie tirée de l'Écriture Sainte. Représentée pour la première fois, par l'Accadémie Royale de Musique, le Jeudy 28 février 1732. Partition généralle in folio, gravée.

Folio: [2]-249-[1] pp. [+ 3 ff. i.e. pp. 137-140-[1]-1 bl.].

Contemp. mottled calf (corners bumped and rubbed), gilt orn. spine with 6 raised bands (rubbed, head and tail def.), marbled endpapers, all edges red. Entirely engraved copy.

First (?) edition of this sheet music of the opera composed by the French Montéclair. The opera takes the form of a "tragédie en musique" in a prologue and five acts (because of its subject matter it was also styled a "tragédie biblique"). The libretto, by the Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on the Biblical story of Jephthah. The oratorio was first performed at the Académie royale de musique, Paris, on 28 February 1732. It was the first opera in France using a story from the Bible to appear on a public stage. For this reason, Cardinal de Noailles banned performances of the work for a time. Montéclair made revisions for revivals of the work in March 1732 and April 1737 (Wikipedia). In fine "Catalogue des ouvrages de Mr. Montéclair".
Ref. BnF.