Lettres et entretiens sur la danse ancienne, moderne, religieuse, civile, et théâtrale

Baron, Auguste Alexis Floreal (1794-1862) Paris, Dondey-Dupré Père et Fils, Imp.-Lib. Éditeurs... 1824 First edition Essentially a history of Greek, Roman, early religious dance, and French court dance, the text is drawn from numerous writers including Mme. Elise Voiart, Joseph Juste Scaliger, Claude Francois Menestrier, Lous de Dahusac, Denis Diderot, and Jean-Georges Noverre. A large part of this book takes the form of conversations with Sophie and, occasionally, two more participants named Heraclite and Democrite. Baron writes about the dances of the period of Catherine de Medici and after. Baron is indebted to De Cahusac's work La Danse Ancienne et Moderne (1754), a fact admitted by the author toward the end of the book. His work, however, is full of additional notes and anecdotes. It also has a folded plate of Feuillet notation. The work went into several later editions under the title Lettres à Sophie sur la danse…