Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) was an exceptional French writer of prose comedy during the eighteenth century. He is best known for his theatrical works of the three Figaro plays. Beaumarchais had an action-filled career as a watchmaker, musician, secret agent, businessman, diplomat and a financer of revolutions. His literary career was as turbulent as his personal life. After a series of lawsuits in Paris, the accounts of his trials made his reputation as a sarcastic, effective, and recognized writer. "The Barber of Seville" (1775) was originally a comic opera, or a mixture of spoken play with music. The story was based on an ill-fated alliance between Beaumarchais' sister and José Clavijo, a Spanish writer. In addition, Beaumarchais raises a cry for the condemnation of the prevailing social system through his main character, Figaro. The work was prohibited in 1773 for indecency then received with great success two years later.

Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' was based on Beaumarchais' politically radical play - the second of the trilogy which begun with 'The Barber Of Seville' - later of course adapted into an opera by Rossini. As in 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia', 'The Marriage of Figaro' depicted the aristocracy as buffoons controlled and outwitted by their cunning servants. This time Figaro and Susanna are due to wed but must first outwit the Count, who is determined to exercise a master's ancient right to deflower the bride of his servant. This is the Schirmer edition of the libretto in the original Italian with an English translation by Ruth and Thomas Martin.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Teatru.

Pendant ma longue proscription, quelques amis zélés avaient imprimé cette pièce, uniquement pour prévenir l'abus d'une contrefaçon infidèle, furtive, et prise à la volée pendant les représentations. Mais ces amis eux-mêmes, pour éviter d'être froissés par les agents de la Terreur, s'ils eussent laissé leurs vrais titres aux personnages espagnols (cat alors tout était péril), se crurent obligés de les défigurer, d'altérer même leur langage, et de mutiler plusieurs scènes.