Beaujoyeux, Balthasar

Document signed (DE BEAUJOIEULX).

      Beaujoyeux, Balthasar de (c.1535-c.1587). Document signed (DE BEAUJOIEULX). Signed on the verso of a document by François d'Orleans (Francese dorleans), both documents countersigned "Bayon." Naming the ballet master as Balthazar de Beaujoieulx. 2p., folio (c.27 x 18cm), pot watermark, 17 April 1574, stitching holes slightly affecting two words, small stains, Beaujoyeux's name inscribed at the top of the page in a later hand. Balthasar de Beaujoyeux was the most important ballet master in Paris at the end of the sixteenth century. His Ballet Aux Ambassadeurs Polonais (1573) and Balet Comique de la Royne (1581) were models for the French tradition of the "ballet de cour" and for the dances in early Italian operas. Beaujoyeux was "valet de chambre" to Mary Stuart, Charles IX and Henri III of France. Beaujoyeulx documents are extremely rare. Provenance: Sotheby's London: Music sale May 2004.