Quinault, Philippe (1635–88), French dramatist and librettist, who became valet to
Tristan l'Hermite, under whose name his first play
Les Rivales (1653) was accepted by the actors at the Hôtel de
Bourgogne. When they discovered the truth they were reluctant to pay the fee agreed upon, and the resultant negotiations, which resulted in the author being given a fixed share in the takings from each performance, have been cited as the origin of the
royalty system, though the point is still disputable. The last of Quinault's plays to profit from the advice of Tristan, shortly before his death, was
La Comédie sans comédie (
A Play with No Plot, 1655), which consisted of four scenes in different genres designed to show off the talents of the actors at the
Marais. By 1666 Quinault had written a number of plays, of which the most successful were the tragedy
Astrate roi de Tyr (1664) and the comedy
La Mère coquette (1666). He then married a wealthy young widow who despised the theatre and made him give it up; but in 1668, being well known for his facility in light verse, he was persuaded to write the libretto for the first of Lully's French operas
La Grotte de Versailles. He continued to write Lully's librettos until the latter's death in 1687, and such was the purifying power of music that his wife made no objections. He also collaborated with
Molière and Corneille in the lyrics for
Psyché (1671) and contributed to
Les Fêtes de l'Amour et de Bacchus (1672) in which Molière also had a hand.
