According to Grove Music, "when Admetus, King of Pherae in Thessaly, is ill and about to die an oracle announces that he will be saved if someone else is willing to die in his stead. His wife Alcestis displays her conjugal devotion by offering herself; she dies and Admetus recovers. Under the influence of tragédie lyrique, Calzabigi enriched his libretto with choruses, ballets and opportunities for impressive scenery."

Map shows settlements, colonies, areas of Native American habitation, and physical features along the eastern coast of North America from Canada and the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to upper Florida and as far west as the Mississippi River and French "Louisiane" territory. Includes notes. Inset: [Map of the waterways in the upper northeastern portion of North America]. Relief shown pictorially. Scale [ca. 1:6,000,000] and Scale [ca. 11,000,000].

Map shows the Pacific Ocean and the coasts of North and South America (including the Gulf of Mexico), Japan, the coast of China, the Philippines, the Isle of Borneo, and the partial coast of New Guinea, New Zealand, and New Holland [Australia]. Relief shown pictorially. Scale not given.

Map shows routes of exploration, areas of Native American habitation, and major settlements; western New France [northwestern portion of North America] includes "Mer ou Baye de l'Ouest" possibily as an early and enormous representation of Vancouver Bay; dates and names of explorers/discoverers. Includes "Avertissement," illustrations, and title cartouche. Relief shown pictorially. Scale not given.

Map shows settlements, colonies, areas of Native American habitation, and physical features along the eastern coast of North America from Canada and the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to upper Florida and as far west as the Mississippi River and French "Louisiane" territory. Includes notes. Inset: [Map of the waterways in the upper northeastern portion of North America]. Relief shown pictorially. Scale [ca. 1:6,000,000] and Scale [ca. 11,000,000].

La colonie is Nicolas Etienne Framery’s French parody of Sacchini’s Italian L’isola d’amore, which was premiered during the 1766 Roman carnival. However, Framery chose music in a pastiche-like fashion from various Sacchini operas, without actually using any arias from L’isola d’amore. Although the operas that Sacchini specifically composed for Paris faced resistance from opponents of foreign composers, La colonie received praise from critics. The 1775 French premiere at the Comédie-Italienne was quite successful; the work even drew comparisons with Pergolesi’s wildly popular La serva padrona.