French Opera in the 17th and 18th Centuries was a project conceived as a 75-volume facsimile series comprising approximately 100 orchestral scores, intended to provide a comprehensive panorama of the history of French opera from its origins to the end of the 18th century. The original scope of the series selected works on the basis of their historical significance and intrinsic value, while also seeking to provide a judicious balance among operatic genres: tragédies en musique, opéras-ballets, opéras-comiques, comédies mêlées d’ariettes, and musiques de scène. Very few of the projected works are available today in full score.

Ultimately, only 12 volumes were published, between 1984 and 2006. Each published volume contains facsimiles of the score and libretto; an extensive introduction dealing with the composer, librettist, opera, sources, and performance history; a plot summary, iconographic materials; bibliographies; and appendices. The facsimiles reproduce the best available contemporary source—whether autograph, contemporary copy, or first edition published during the composer’s lifetime.

The first twelve volumes are:

  • Destouches, André Cardinal. Issé: Pastorale héroïque (1697). Text by Antoine Houdar de La Motte. Edited by Robert Fajon. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 14. New York: Pendragon Press, 1984. ISBN: 9780918728302: ISBN-10: 0918728304
  • Le Sueur, Jean-François. La caverne: Drame lyrique. Libretto by P. Dercy, based on an episode in Alain René Le Sage’s Gil Blas de Santillane. Introduction by Jean Mongrédien. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 74. New York: Pendragon Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780918728333: ISBN-10: 0918728339
  • Rameau, Jean-Philippe. Les paladins: Comédie lyrique. Libretto attributed to Duplat de Monticourt. Introduction by R. Peter Wolf, with a biography of the composer by Graham Sadler. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 44. New York: Pendragon Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780918728630: ISBN-10: 0918728630
  • Méhul, Étienne Nicolas. Mélidore et Phrosine: Drame lyrique en vers. Libretto by Antoine-Vincent Arnault. Introduction by M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 73. New York: Pendragon Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780918728814: ISBN-10: 0918728819
  • Campra, André. Le carnaval de Venise: Comédie lyrique. Libretto by Jean-François Regnard. Introduction by James R. Anthony, with a section on stage designs and costumes by Jérôme de La Gorce. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 17. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780945193074: ISBN-10: 0945193076
  • Salomon, Joseph-François. Médée et Jason: Tragédie en musique. Libretto by Simon-Joseph Pellegrin. Introduction by Leslie Ellen Brown. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 28. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1990.ISBN: 9780945193074: ISBN-10: 0945193076
  • Piccinni, Niccolò. Atys: Tragédie lyrique. Libretto by Jean-François Marmontel. Introduction by Julian Rushton. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 65. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780945193210: ISBN-10: 0945193211
  • Philidor, François-André Danican. Ernelinde: Tragédie lyrique. Libretto by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet. Introduction by Julian Rushton. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 56. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780945193234: ISBN-10: 0945193238
  • Devienne, François. Les visitandines: Comédie mêlée d’ariettes. Libretto by Louis-Benoît Picard. Introduction by Sherwood Dudley. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 72a. New York: Pendragon Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780945193227: ISBN-10: 094519322X
  • Delalande, Michel-Richard de. Ballet de la jeunesse. Libretto by Florent Carton Dancourt. Introduction by Barbara Coeyman. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 9. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780945193555: ISBN-10: 0945193556
  • Méhul, Étienne Nicolas. Stratonice: Comédie héroïque. Libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann. Introduction by M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 72b. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780918728951: ISBN-10: 0918728959
  • Campra, André. Tancrède: Tragédie en musique. Libretto by Antoine Danchet, based on Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata. Introduction by Antonia L. Banducci, with a section on André Campra by James R. Anthony and a section on eighteenth-century dance by Judith L. Schwartz. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 18. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2006. ISBN: 9781576470886: ISBN-10: 1576470881