VADE (Jean-Jospeh). - Lot 216

VADE (Jean-Jospeh). Born in Ham. 1719-1757. Vaudevillier, he also composed fables, songs and gallant poetry. P.A.S. "Vadé". Paris, October 5, 1754. 2/3 page in-4. Assignment of rights: ...I acknowledge having ceded and abandoned forever and without any reservation on my part, to M. Duchesne Librairie in Paris, my comic opera, entitled, la Nouvelle Bastienne etc. for him to enjoy as his own, having received the amount agreed between us...Vadé published a series of fables which, without reaching the height of La Fontaine, say very good things in an amiable form and graceful and charming gallant poems. It wasn't long before he became famous, but having had the misfortune to become too closely associated with Fréron, Voltaire never forgave him, and never missed an opportunity both to mock and overwhelm "ce polisson de Vadé", as he called him in a letter to Marie Du Deffand dated September 7, 1774. Nevertheless, he did him the honor of signing several of his own works with the name Vadé. What made Vadé best known as the creator of the poissard genre is that, seeking in honest labor the means to make an honest living, he tried his hand at the theater, for which, before composing numerous vaudevilles, parades and opéras-comiques, he first attempted to describe serious plays. These attempts proved futile, however, when Les Visites du jour de l'An, first performed on January 3, 1749 at the Comédie-Française, was shown only once, and La Canadienne was never performed. Vadé then successfully turned to the comic theaters of the Foire Saint-Laurent and the Foire Saint-Germain, where his parodies revealed a mocking wit, yet a deep and keen observer of the people.