The Key To The Vault

fascinating collection of popular songs from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, collected and edited by Pierre Adolphe Capelle (1775-1851), a fashionable playwright in Paris. This author was in turn a printer, bookseller, bookshop inspector during the Restoration, and author of plays regularly performed at the Théâtre du Vaudeville. He was imprisoned in the Temple in 1800 for having written a bibliography of Marie Antoinette. He took up, for the first time in 1806, the tradition of the Caveau society (founded in 1733 by famous authors such as Piron or Crebillon fils), a second time in 1817 with the famous boulevardier Desaugiers, a society which brought together its members (often very well-read) around good food and popular song. He took advantage of this joyful experience to make a first compilation of these songs in 1811 of 891 songs, a number that he increased with each edition. Our volume has no less than 2,350 tunes, in its fourth edition. This work is therefore an extraordinary source for delving into the song repertoire at the turn of the 19th century, keeping in mind that it is this tradition that is the ancestor of the current Parisian cabaret customs and practices. Oblong format, in good general condition (slightly rubbed, some wear, but solid)