BALOCCHI, Luigi (1766-1832). La primavera felice, dramma giocoso in un atto. L’heureux printemps, opéra-comique en un acte, représentédevantle Roi, àl’occasion du mariage de S.A.R. Monseigneur le Duc de Berry et de S.A.R. Marie-Caroline, Princesse des Deux Siciles. Paris: Chez Vente, 1816.

The Duchesse de Berry’s copy of Balocchi’s one-act play, performed on the occasion of her marriage to the Duc de Berry in 1816.Balocchi was a well-regarded playwright in his day, best remembered today for the librettos he provided for some of Rossini’s operas, including Il viaggio a Reims, L'assedio di Corinto, and Mosé. See “Luigi Balocchi,”Grove Music Online.

Octavo (200 x 125mm). Contemporary French straight-grain citron morocco gilt, all edges gilt, silk ribbon bookmark, arms of Marie-Caroline, Duchesse de Berry on covers (very light wear). Provenance: Marie Caroline, Duchesse de Berry (1798-1870; armorial binding and Bibliothèque de Rosny bookplate) – Edgard Stern (1854-1937, Parisian banker and collector; bookplate, confiscated from him by the Nazi authorities following their occupation of Paris after May 1940 and eventually restituted to Mme Edgard Stern; family sale, Drouot, 27 June 1988, lot 10).