This book is a historical and theoretical development of the problems of ballet drama of the XIX century. It contains a wide variety of material - scripts, librettos of classical ballets of the century before last, as well as author's commentary. This book will equip choreographers with knowledge of the primary sources of classical performances, which were the basis for the development of the choreographic movement in the 20th century, and will help them, relying on the classical heritage, create new modern works.