I’d stumbled onto the British Library’s “Treasures in Full” site yesterday, seeking information on 17th century staging. (Links to the articles I found are on the left, under Baroque theater.) Coincidently, Sandra Taylor on the Louis XIV Yahoo list mentioned the same site today, but called my attention to specific festival books published for the court of the Sun King. I went back and did a search, typing XIV into the searchbox, which revealed links to a number of Louis XIV festival books. Wonderful!
This one, of the L’Isle enchantée festival at Versailles the week of May 7, 1664 is my favorite. You can turn the pages to see one beautiful illustration after another.
Thank you. Spain was a huge influence on France, without a doubt. I'll have a look at this book.
BTW: The French edition is titled: La France Espagnole: Les Racines Hispaniques De L'absolutisme Francais.
(I couldn't find an English version.)
I think you'll found write about the celebrations in the Spanish Monarchy, the most powerful reign in this time, not only in Europe but also in America. You'll found that Luis XIV (son of the Spanish Infanta Ana of Austria, and housband of snother Spanish Infanta) take the inspiration for his celebration in the "Spanish Way". You can found some information in the book: "La Francia española, las raíces hispanas del absolutismo francés", a magnific book of the fench teacher Jean-Frederic Schaub. I think there is also an englesh version