Flutists performing the French music of the 18th century on historical instruments rely on various written sources published in that time to get as close as possible to the original sound of the music performed in that period. One of the most popular French-language textbooks from the early 18th century on flute playing known today is the treatise entitled Principes de la flûte traversière ou flûte d'Allemagne, de la flûte à bec ou flûte douce et du hautbois by Jacques-Martin Hotteterre’. In the mid-18th century the French style of woodwond instrument playing changed very much as compared to the beginning of that century, especially due to the singificant influence of Italian music. A lot of information on the performance of embellishments, ways of fingering and blowing as well as modes of articulation and ornamentation can be found in three treatises dating from a similar time: Méthode pour apprendre aisément à jouer de la flûte traversière avec les principes de musique by Michel Corrette, Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre en peu de tems à jouer de la flûte traversière by Antoine Mahaut, and L’art de la flûte traversière by de Lusse. Even though they are commonly known to scholars dealing with flute music of the 18th century, they have not yet received an in-depth comparatice analysis. The aim of the present cycle of articles is to systematise the knowledge on the performance practice described in these three treatises and to point out similarities and differences between the styles of playing outlined in them. The first part of the cycle presents the profiles of the authors of the mentioned treatises, as well as a general characterization of each flute school. It lists the most important performance topics included in them, which will be touched on in details in subsequent parts of the article cycle, including the information on the tuning pitch at that time or the construction of flutes.