‎Autographs‎

‎Humboldt, Alexander von, German naturalist and explorer (1769-1859).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. Berlin, 22. II. 1840.‎

‎Folio. 3 pp. on bifolium. In French. Highly interesting letter to the diplomat, traveller, and historian Henri Ternaux-Compans who had succeeded Humboldt as editor of the periodical "Annales des voyages, de la géographie et de l'histoire" founded in 1819. Humboldt grants a request to "continue to place my name among the editors of the Annales des Voyages" as a courtesy to Ternaux-Compans, who had previously given him access to his collections. However, Humboldt goes to great lengths to explain this personal favour, as he did not usually permit his name to be attached to such projects, given his position. His participation as an editor between 1836 and 1839 had already been a personal favour to the publisher Théophile-Étienne Gide, who had "affectionately pressed" him. In a curious request, he asks for his name to be removed in the event that Ternaux-Compans should leave the Annales before Humboldt is "placed among the fossil corpses". - Although his personal involvement appears to have been largely symbolic, Humboldt is highly critical of the publication and offers advice for its improvement. Given the severity of his criticism, he asks Ternaux-Compans not to show the letter to his predecessor Jean-Baptiste-Benoît Eyriès, for whom he expresses great admiration as a scientist, or any "person who might tell him about it". For Humboldt, the Annales were from the start, under their first editor Conrad Malte-Brun, "of bleak mediocrity", even if he ranks the journal above the "Bulletin de la Société de géographie de Paris". He attributes this mediocrity to a lack of scientific data and other relevant information: "of astronomically determined positions, of elevation determinations, of indications for average temperatures, of catalogues of maps published abroad, of detailed insights concerning the magnetic stations, of expeditions to the South Pole". Therefore, the Annales is a publication for amateurs, and even for them it is "too jejune", providing no interest to readers who wish to know what is "discovered on the surface of the globe". By contrast, Humboldt praises several German publications, such as Heinrich Christian Schumacher's "Astronomische Nachrichten" and the "Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift", wherein Humboldt himself published. His advice to Ternaux-Compans is to collaborate with people "who possess scientific knowledge in a distinguished manner", naming, e.g., the engineer Pierre Daussy, the cartographer Louis-Isidore Duperrey, and the explorer Louis de Freycinet. He further suggests to translate and publish articles from the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, which is "admirably edited", and, finally, to consult the archaeologist Jean-Antoine Letronne. - Tears to the folds and margins, minimally affecting the text, partly repaired and reinforced with adhesive tape. With a collector's note in pencil. Some browning overall.‎

‎Planck, Max, Physiker, Nobelpreisträger, Begründer der Quantenphysik (1858-1947).‎

‎Eigenh. Brief mit U. [Berlin], 19. XI. 1941.‎

‎2 SS. auf 1 Bl. 8vo. Schöner und persönlicher Brief an seine Nichte Gretl. "Du sprichst von dem Vortrag, den ich neulich in der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft gehalten habe, und mir scheint, daß Du von den Zeitungsberichten darüber nicht ganz befriedigt bist. Nun weiß ich nicht, welche Zeitung Du gelesen hast. Deshalb lege ich Dir hier das Referat aus der Deutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung bei, mit der Bitte um gelegentliche Rückgabe [...] Noch immer denke ich sehr gern und dankbar an den genußreichen und behaglichen Mittag bei Dir zurück. Es tut so wohl, in dieser von schwarzen immer drohender aufsteigenden Wolken beschatteten Zeit einmal im engsten befreundeten Kreis sich bewußt zu werden, daß es auch jetzt noch geistige und substantielle Freuden gibt, die einem das Leben verschönern und veredeln [...]". - Leichter Mittelfalz und im linken Rand gelocht (minimale Buchstabenberührung); stellenweise unbedeutend fleckig. Auf Briefpapier mit gedrucktem Briefkopf von Plancks privater Anschrift Berlin-Grunewald, Wangenheimstraße 21.‎

‎Solvay, Ernest, Belgian chemist and industrialist (1838-1922).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. La Hulpe, 10. IX. 1909.‎

‎8vo. 1 leaf, folded to 4 pages. Though he was unable to attend university due to his health, in this letter Solvay displays his academic prowess as a chemist and inventor. He writes to the journal "Revue générale des sciences pures et appliquées" to discuss an article which he has already published, "Physico-chimie et Biologie", and to offer another: "Je vous présente aujourd'hui un second article intitulé: 'Physico-chimie et Psychologie'". A further third article is mentioned as a possibility, one which coincides with the work of another scientist published in the Revue ("Certaines vues, exposées par M. Pierre Girard dans son article du 30 août : L'Électrisation de contact en Biologie coïncident avec les miennes"). - Faint creasing; an 'R' is marked near the letterhead in blue crayon.‎

‎Calder, Alexander, American sculptor (1898-1976).‎

‎Autograph postcard signed and with a small sketch. [Roxbury (Litchfield County, CT), 9 May 1958].‎

‎8vo. 2 pp. With autograph address. To the Franco-Hungarian sculptor István Beöthy (Etienne Beothy) in Montrouge/Seine, announcing his arrival in Paris for the end of June. The sketch on the card's picture side, partly hand-coloured by Calder, shows a "collaboration entre vaches et sculpteur" ("collaboration between cows and sculptor").‎

‎Dunoyer de Segonzac, André, French painter and illustrator (1884-1974).‎

‎5 autograph picture postcards signed and 2 autograph letters signed. Paris, Saint Tropez, Signac, Toulon, and n. p., 1920-1971.‎

‎Various formats. Altogether 7 pp. With 2 autograph envelopes. 2 postcards mounted together on cardboard. Interesting collection comprising letters to the librarian Julien Cain, the painter and art critic Roland Chavenon, the historian René Héron de Villefosse, and the illustrator and designer Georges Lepape. The earliest letter in the collection with a postmark from 20 March 1920 is addressed to Chavenon, thanking him for his "beautiful book", probably "La part de la nature dans l'art" (Paris 1920) and praising in particular the "chapter dedicated to the decorative arts". A second letter to Chavenon with a Paris postmark from 15 October 1933 accompanied a text for a periodical named "L'Éclaireur", which might be "a bit long". - In a postcard from 23 June 1957, Dunoyer de Segonzac congratulates Georges Lepape (not named) on his exhibition "Paris 09-29" that commemorated the glamorous Parisian life of the years 1909-29 through its decorative arts. Dunoyer de Segonzac expresses his hope that the youth will learn about the 'spring of the century'. - The longest letter in the collection, dated 23 August 1963, was certainly addressed to René Héron de Villefosse. Dunoyer de Segonzac congratulates the historian on his forthcoming book "L'Ile de France" (Paris, 1966) and lays out his ideas for illustrations, while criticising existing designs: "L'illustration graphique d'un tel ouvrage soit être parallèle comme esprit à votre papier : beaucoup de dessins et même de croquis à l'encre de Chine, accompagneraient, je crois, très bien, vos écrits - les dessins synthétiques qui illustrent votre 'Île de France' - sont loin d'être indifférents mais ont, à mon avis, un caractère trop statique et un peu froid". The letter was convincing; the artist ultimately contributed 14 lithographs and 4 woodcuts to the publication. - On 3 February 1968, Dunoyer de Segonzac wrote a postcard to Julien Cain and his wife to thank them for a photograph of Cain and him: "Merci mille fois pour l'excellent et vivante photo en couleur évocatrice de Julien et de moi-même. C'est un témoignage précieux de notre vieille et grande amitié". - The final two postcards in the collection from January 1970 and 1971 are both to thank an unnamed recipient for New Year's wishes. - The second letter to Chavenon and the letter to Cain stapled to the original envelopes. The letter to Héron de Villefosse with staple holes. Well preserved.‎

‎Signac, Paul, painter (1863-1935).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. [Paris, 1891].‎

‎4to. 2 pp. on bifolium. To his friend, the writer Georges Lecomte, with a request for tickets to the latter's play "La Meule". If Lecomte were willing to bring them to him personally at home, they could "carve the aesthetic basalt" together: "Bien que nos relations soient plutôt rares, pourquoi? Je nous crois encore suffisamment amis pour te prier de mettre à ma dispostion - oh, si cela ne te derange en rien! des siéges en ton théatre, un de ces soirs prochains. Je pense c'est pour les dames. Ces place devrais-je les prendre chez le concierge, ou seront-elles déposées à mon nom Salle d'armes Bandry 108 rue Richelieu, j'y vais chaque soir de 6 à 7. Il serait peut-etre encore mieux de me les porter toi-même à mon domicile 15 rue Hégesippe Moreau [...] pour tailler esthetique basalte [...]". - Signac maintained a workshop at 15 rue Hégesippe Moreau from 1889 to 1892 (in the letter he refers to the address as his home) and there painted the portrait of Felix Fénéon (New York, MoMA). Lecomte, whose play "La Meule" premiered at the Théâtre-Libre on 26 February 1891, was best man at Berthe Roblès and Signac's wedding the following year. - With longer marginal tears and paper tears along the folding lines. Verso of the counterfoil slightly ink-stained.‎

‎Bonaparte, Caroline (M. A. Carolina Murat), Queen of Naples (1782-1839), Napoléon's sister.‎

‎Autograph letter signed ("C. de Lipona"). Bains de la Battaglia, 27 Aug. 1823.‎

‎4to. 1½ pp. on bifolium with integral address panel. Watermark: angel holding a scroll with initials "GR". Addressed to the steward of her estate Frohsdorf in Lower Austria, Boruzki, with a series of tasks and the expression of her satisfaction with Boruzki's efforts towards the agricultural and financial care of the estate. Boruzki should accommodate the family of Count Odelga fittingly in Frohsdorf, and carry out Bonaparte's instructions on the manorial distillery and its distiller Wais, animal sales, the mine, and recently arrived documents from Venice. She also expresses her thanks to the harvesters and congratulations on the birth of Boruzki's son: "Je viens de recevoir, Monsieur le Wervalter, votre lettre du 15 et je suis enchantée des détails que vous me donnez sur ma Seigneurie de Frohsdorf: j'espère que la suite de vos opérations agricoles répondra au commencement, et que la récolte répondra à vos soins [...] Assurez les Employés de ma réconnaissence pour le zèle qu'ils ont déployé à la rentrée des récoltes [...]". - Caroline bought Frohsdorf Castle in 1817 and lived there as "Comtesse de Lipona" with her second husband, General Macdonald, during the next five years of the exile imposed on her by the provisions of the Congress of Vienna. In Frohsdorf she was surrounded by only a few people; her sister Pauline and her brother Jérôme had become estranged: on 3 March 1818 Jérôme wrote to Elisa Bonaparte, "Je n'espère rien de Caroline, ils sont anti-français et anti-famille [...]" ("I hope for nothing from Caroline, they are anti-French and anti-family", Archives nationales AP 15). - The tears caused by letter opening have been expertly restored. There is a longer marginal tear along the fold, a small paper break resulting from ink corrosion, and a collector's note in pencil‎

‎Desbordes-Valmore, Marceline, poet and author (1786-1859).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. No place, 12 Feb. 1847.‎

‎8vo. 1½ pp. An emotional, almost poetic letter of thanks to a Monsieur referring to her petition on behalf of a certain Madame Thuilot. Thuilot is described as a most upstanding and honest woman, tormented by a passionate regret that makes her an object of interest to everyone, even to those who understand nothing of her suffering. Desbordes counts herself, indeed, among this number, and claims to share in Madame Thuilot's pain precisely because it has gripped the sufferer so deeply and seriously. The addressee would be blessed by Thuilot's poor sick heart and also by that of Desbordes: "Vous répondez avec bien de la grace et da la bonté à ma prière pour Madame Thuilot et je vous en fais mon vif remerciement. Il est vrai qu'il n'y a pas monde une meilleure et plus honnête femme, ni plus tourmentée d'un regret passionné qui tient à bon entrailler, et la rend intéressante même pour ceux qui n'y comprennent rien. Je suis de ce nombre et je compatis à Sa peine uniquement parce que je la vois sincère et profonde [...] lumières en éclairent la source et vous sera béni de ce pauvre cœur malade. Du mien aussi, Monsieur, qui soulève un abattement douloureux. Pour vous saluer de ma gratitude et de mon estime particulière [...]" (You have answered my prayers for Madame Thuilot with great grace and kindness, and I thank you very much for it. It is true that there is no better and more honest woman in the world, nor one more tormented by a passionate regret which holds her fast in its grip, and makes her interesting even to those who understand nothing about her. I am one of them and I sympathise with her pain only because I see it as sincere and deep [...] lights illuminate its source and you will be blessed by this poor sick heart. By mine too, Sir, which causes me painful dejection. Sending you my gratitude and special esteem [...]". - Desbordes-Valmore achieved the great success with her poems on themes such as motherhood, love, friendship, childhood, God and social injustice. She processed the numerous strokes of fate in her life through poetry, earning her the nickname "Notre-Dame-des-Pleurs" ("Our Lady of the Tears"). - Slightly yellowed in places.‎

‎Doyle, Arthur Conan, British writer and physician (1859-1930).‎

‎Autograph postcard signed. Crowborough, [postal stamp: 1918].‎

‎Oblong 8vo. ½ page (5 lines). With autograph address. To the Bristol brewer and businessman Frederick William Bennett (d. 27 Sept. 1941): "Dear Sir / It does seem most disgraceful / Yours sincerely / A Conan Doyle [...]". - Doyle in his later life turned to spiritualism and in 1918 published his first spiritualist book "The New Revelation". - Slightly browned due to paper.‎

‎Murray, John Archibald, writer and judge (1778-1859).‎

‎Autograph letter (fragment) signed. No place or date.‎

‎Oblong 12mo. 1 page (4 lines). Mounted on backing paper. "Believe me / Dear Sir / very truly Yours / John A. Murray". - With collector's note to backing paper.‎

‎Thackeray, William Makepeace, novelist, author and illustrator (1811-1863).‎

‎Autograph notes. No place or date.‎

‎Oblong 16mo. 1 page (5 lines). Mounted on backing paper. "Hume's House of Hamilton. / Ashmole's History of the Garter. / Dalrymple's Memoirs of Gt. Britain. / Délices des Pays Bas. / Life of Eugene". - The second and third title are followed by ticks. A clipped fragment of an ink drawing is visible along the upper margin. Slightly browned and stained. According to the collector's note on the backing paper, Thackeray's handwriting of his works is known to differ from that of his letters.‎

‎Bach, Johann Sebastian, German composer (1685-1750).‎

‎Autograph receipt signed. [Leipzig, June or July] 1748.‎

‎Oblong 12mo (ca. 98 x 52 mm). 1 p., with a similar receipt for another legacy with 4 additional signatures on verso. Evenly browned, a little stained, edges a little chipped. Decoratively framed and glazed with a brass plaque and an engraved portrait (light chipping to gilt frame). Signature by Johann Sebastian Bach, confirming in his own hand the receipt of 2 guilders ("acc[epi] - 2 fl.") from the Lobwasser Bequest. The sum was paid out around every 2nd of July to the cantor, deputy headmaster, and third teacher (tertius) at St. Thomas. Above and below Bach's signature, his colleagues Conrad Benedict Hülse and Abraham Kriegel sign for their 2 guilders. - One of Bach's several supplementary sources of income which together made up a substantial part of his Leipzig salary, this payment would in the mid-18th century have corresponded roughly to an organist's weekly wages. The "Legatum Lobwasserianum", a legacy of 1000 guilders, was bequeathed in 1610 by a Leipzig lawyer's pious widow, Maria Lobwasser; the 50 guilders of annual interest, paid on the Feast of the Visitation, went toward supporting St Thomas's church and school personnel. - This is one of only two known receipts from Bach receiving his Lobwasser funds. The other, from 1750, was originally written on the same sheet of paper underneath the entry for 1748, but the two records were later cut apart and separated. Curiously, the relevant entry for 1749 must have been made in another, now lost document, as a date "1749" and Hülse's stricken-out signature, apparently made here in error, appear at the bottom of the present slip of paper (formerly between the 1748 and 1750 records). The small 8vo leaf, removed from a receipt book, was complete in 1908 when it was offered at C. G. Boerner's sale of "precious autographs from a Viennese private collection" (lot 3). The buyer was probably the noted Swiss collector Karl Geigy-Hagenbach, in whose "album of manuscripts by illustrious personages", published in 1925, it was again illustrated intact. The receipt's location was subsequently unknown until, in May 1986, the present upper half of the sheet appeared at Christie's manuscripts sale (lot 271). It was likely acquired there by the Canadian chemist and physician Frederick Lewis Maitland Pattison (1923-2010) and subsequently sold by the New York dealer Kenneth W. Rendell (his description pasted on the reverse of the frame) to the Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits, Paris; acquired from their sale. - In December 2014, the lower half (bearing the receipt for 1750, signed by Bach's son Johann Christian in the place of the blind and dying composer) appeared at Swann's in New York, described as having previously been in the collection of the Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska (1879-1959), and was bought by the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig. C. G. Boerner, auction catalogue XCII (Leipzig, 8 & 9 May 1908), lot 3. K. Geigy-Hagenbach, Album von Handschriften berühmter Persönlichkeiten vom Mittelalter bis zur Neuzeit (Basel 1925), p. 243. H.-J. Schulze, Marginalien zu einigen Bach-Dokumenten, Bach Jahrbuch (1961), pp. 79-99, here at p. 93. Bach-Dokumente, Krit. Gesamtausgabe (ed. W. Neumann & H.-J. Schulze), vol. 1 (1963), p. 207, no. 137.‎

‎Bazin, François, French composer (1816-1878).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. Paris, 24. V. 1859.‎

‎8vo. 1 p. To an administrator of the "Commission du chant de la ville de Paris", declaring his resignation from the commission due to a decision not to perform his choral piece "Les soldats de Pilate" at the 2nd general reunion of the Paris Orphéon. Bazin complains that he went through the trouble of changing the piece on behalf of the commission: "Les paroles de ce chœur, vous le savez, ont été soumises avant son exécution à la Commission du chant et à l'administration dont fous faites partie. Sur votre demande, et malgré ma répugnance à allonger ma composition, j'ai ajouté un chœur final qui dans cette situation nuit beaucoup à l'effet de ce morceau. Cela m'a couté de la peine et du temps". After affirming his personal respect for the recipient, Bazin declares: "Dans les arts comme dans les administrations, certains actes ont leur conséquence ; vous ne serez donc as étonné de savoir aujourd'hui par cette lettre ma démission de membre de la Commission du chant de la ville de Paris. Ce tout petit événement qui ne touchera personne ne m'empêche pas d'être comme par le pasé votre dévoué". Despite his resignation, Bazin followed Charles Gounod as director of the Paris Orphéon in 1860, which he remained until his death. The Orphéons were amateur choirs that formed as part of a larger movement in France, Spain and Portugal. By 1863 there were approximately 900 French Orphéons uniting more than 70,000 singers. - On mourning paper with embossed monogram. Minimally stained.‎

‎Beydts, Louis, French composer, music critic, and theatre director (1895-1953).‎

‎2 autograph letters signed. Paris, 3 Nov. 1931 and 21 Nov. 1952.‎

‎8vo and oblong 12mo. Together 3 pp. The earlier letter was written to thank an admired artist: "Je pense bien fidèlement à vous, mon cher Maître et ami et je vous redis ma profonde et constante gratitude". - The second letter was to offer a box for a representation of Ambroise Thomas' Mignon at the Opéra-Comique to an unnamed woman. - Louis Beydt was among the last composers of the traditional French operetta and a prolific composer of incidental music and film music. His short directorate of the Opéra-Comique from 1952 to 1952 was marked by the 50th anniversary production of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and the first French production of The Rake's Progress. - The letter from 1931 somewhat creased, on stationery with embossed letterhead "34. Rue de Liège, VIIIe". The letter from 1952 on stationery of the Opéra-Comique.‎

‎Boïeldieu, Adrien Louis, French composer (1815-1883).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. N. p., 31 Oct. (no year).‎

‎8vo. 2 pp. on bifolium. Interesting letter to the playwright Louis-Émile Vanderburch, concerning a collaboration with Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and asking him for an idea for a play or a finished piece for the carneval season: "Maintenant voici ce que j'ai à vous demander : N'auriez-vous pas dans la tête ou en portefeuille, un sujet très bouffe seulement en un acte, mais une idée d'un gros comique pouvant être donné en plein carnaval comme pièce de circonstance, ce qui permettrait de se livrer à toutes sortes d'excentricités que vous traiterez si fièrement avec votre esprit. C'est ce que je cherche, [...] et j'ai communiqué mon idée à Perrin, qui m'approuve et m'encourage. Si vous aviez ce que je demande, ce serait une bonne affaire, et nous aurions une jolie petite pochade qui serait jouée longtemps [...]". The "Perrin" mentioned is likely the artist and theatre director Émile Perrin who directed the Opéra-Comique from 1848 to 1857 and later briefly the Paris Opéra. Vanderburch (1794-1862) was a successful and prolific playwright, but no collaborations between Boïeldieu and Vanderburch are recorded. Boïeldieu did indeed collaborate with Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (1799-1875) in the early 1840s. Saint-Georges is best known as the librettist of Donizetti's "La fille du régiment", Bizet's "La jolie fille de Perth", and his numerous co-authorships with Eugène Scribe. - On stationery with embossed monogram. Minor browning.‎

‎Carvalho, Léon, French stage director (1825-1897).‎

‎Visiting card with autograph dedication signed. N. p. o. d.‎

‎Visiting card format. 5 lines. Thanking an unnamed recipient: "Merci cher Monsieur pour toutes vos sympathies. J'en suis profondement touché". The visiting card from Carvalho's time as director of the Opéra-Comique (1876-1887 and 1891-1897) with the lithographed inscription: "Directeur du Théâtre National de l'Opéra Comique". - Some browning. Staple holes.‎

‎Cluytens, André, Belgian-French conductor (1905-1967).‎

‎Autograph music quotation signed. N. p., 1962.‎

‎130 x 90 mm. 1 p. 4 bars from the finale "Personne n'a un plus grand amour que de donner sa vie pour ceux qu’il aime" of Arthur Honegger's 1938 oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, dedicated to Eberhard Krämer. - Well preserved.‎

‎Coward, Henry, conductor (1849-1944).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. Sheffield, 3. II. 1932.‎

‎8vo. 1 page. With autograph envelope. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944) with thanks for appreciation, Coward would not wish to involve the local press with further articles due to his current popularity: "Accept my thanks for your letter and paper [...]. I dare not show them to the local press because so much is being said of my doings just now. It is very gratifying to see you are taking such great interest in the services for the people. Go on and prosper [...]". - Knighted in the later 1920s, Coward afterwards served as President of the "Tonic Sol-fa College" in London. - With embossed letter head, embossed letter stamp with postal advertising stamp, and collector's note in ink to envelope.‎

‎Delsarte, François, French singer and educator (1811-1871).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. N. p., "Vendredi soir".‎

‎8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. With autograph address and traces of seal. Interesting letter to the composer Napoléon Henri Reber, asking him to accompany Delsarte to an audition of some students of Émile-Joseph-Maurice Chevé who seem to have received lessons from Delsarte himself: "Je vais, demain soir, entendre les élèves de Chevé conformément à la promesse que je leur ai faite. Voulez-vous y venir avec moi ? Je voudrais pour beaucoup vous voir assister à cette audition car je suis persuadé que vous seriez charmé des résultats déjà obtenus. [...] J'espère que vous ne m'objecterez pas quel qu'empêchement car, je vous le répète, je tiens infiniment à vous rendre juge des efforts que nous pouvons attendre l'hiver prochain. Tout le monde, d'ailleurs, vous saura bon gré de cette dimarche". - The letter points to a connection between the two eminent singing teachers Chevé and Delsarte. Apparently, Chevé gave Delsarte the opportunity to test his experimental methods of singing and voice training with his own students. Unlike Chevé, who was co-founder of the Galin-Paris-Chevé-Method, Delsarte did not commit to writing any of his innovative teaching methods. It was through his American student, the actor Steele MacKaye, that Delsarte's methods were introduced to the U.S. Together with his student Genevieve Stebbins, MacKaye developed the extremely popular Delsarte system of expression. François Delsarte's most famous student was Sarah Bernhardt. - Traces of folds. The lower right margin bent. With tear from breaking the seal (address leaf).‎

‎Marmontel, Antoine, French pianist (1816-1898).‎

‎2 autograph letters signed. N. p. o. d.‎

‎12mo. Together 4½ pp. on bifolia. In an interesting letter to the composer Victor Massé, Marmontel congratulates his colleague at the Paris Conservatory on a cantata by his student Paul Puget: "Mes cordiales félicitations pour la belle Cantate de Puget. On reconnait dans l'ensemble et les détails de cette partition l'excellente direction du maître, et le brillant élève vous fait grand honneur. [...]". The cantata in question is very likely "Mazeppa", which won Puget the Prix de Rome in 1873. - The second letter to an unnamed administrator at the Conservatory concerns the organisation of upcoming auditions and the problem of "the sensitivity of the parents" during such events: "Voici sauf les rectifications qui vous paraitrons convenables et aussi l'intercalation [?] des trois morceaux chant, violon et chœur. Le classement des morceaux dans l'ordre me parait le plus avantageux. Les élèves de mon cher [...] débutèrent elles ? Dans ma lettre je lui laisse tout à fait le choix. Voyons à éviter les froissements d'amour propre, les susceptibilités des parents c'est là toujours l'écueil [?] des auditions, la plus part des élèves ayant la petite faiblesse de s'exagérer le mérite personnel [...]". - The letter concerning the audition with traces of former mounting and a tear affecting the text.‎

‎Membrée, Edmond, French composer (1820-1882).‎

‎3 autograph letters signed. N. p. o. d.‎

‎8vo and 12mo. Together 3 pp. on bifolia. A letter to a Plouvier (not the librettist Édouard Plouvier, 1820-76) can be dated after 1879, as Membrée mentions a performance of his opera "La Courte Échelle" that had premiered on 10 March 1879 at the Opéra-Comique: "Merci, mon cher Plouvier, pour votre affectueux souvenir auquel j'ai été très sensible. Je compte vous faire tous mes compliments la première fois que je vous verrai, en même temps que je vous dirai tous nos regrets de ne vous avoir pas vu le jour de la Courte-Échelle. Oh ! mais ... Je vais me mettre à faire des vers, moi ! Il n'est pas trop tard !". Membrée knew Édouard Plouvier, and it seems likely that he addressed a member of his family. - In a short letter, Membrée asks the secretary general of the Comédie-Française, Alexis-Jules Verteuil, for theatre tickets. - The third letter is to apologize to an unnamed recipient for being unable to decline a conflicting invitation: "J'ai fait ce que j'ai pu pour me dégager de l'invitation que j'avais acceptée pour Vendredi, cela ne m'a pas été possible". - Two letters on stationery with embossed monogram. The letter to the unnamed recipient with a small hole and duststained.‎

‎Newman, Ernest (i.e., William Roberts), musicologist (1868-1959).‎

‎Typed letter signed with few autograph corrections. Tadwoth (Surrey), 14. IV. 1931.‎

‎8vo. 1 page. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944). Newman is unable to provide information on Wagner Societies in England and gives an outline of the work that preoccupied him at the time: "I am glad to hear of the formation of your Wagner Society, and wish it good luck and long life. I don't know whether there are any other Wagner Societies still in existence in England. I would suggest your asking the Musical Times [...] I have completely given up lecturing: I have about a dozen books on hand, and I have had do give up every form of activity that draws upon the time I need for these. It seems a long while now since we heard the 'Ring' in Bristol. These were great days! [...]". In 1931 Newman had published his work "Fact and Fiction about Wagner". - With embossed letterhead.‎

‎Puccini, Giacomo, Italian composer (1858-1924).‎

‎Six autograph letters and postcards signed ("Giacomo" and "GPuccini"). Paris, 1906.‎

‎8vo and oblong 12mo. Altogether 12 pages on 8 ff. 4 items written in violet ink, Paris, Grand Hôtel de Londres, 23 October to 12 December 1906 where dated. Stamp removed from one postcard with loss of text; two letters apparently incomplete. Five unpublished letters to Sybil Seligman, Puccini’s closest female friend and his most important advisor after Giulio Ricordi, and one to her husband David, reporting his arrival in Paris, the first rehearsal at the Opéra-Comique, and his expectation that the opera will be staged within about a month, which will leave too little time before his departure for New York, expressing his anguish at matters going from bad to worse with the soprano Marguerite Carré, for whom the title role is too demanding, admitting he is constrained from stating his position openly, for fear of ruining the forthcoming production of La Bohème, and that he is leaving it until as late as possible to give his blessing to the production, hoping his fears are not realized. He also discusses the book by Oscar Wilde (A Florentine Tragedy) that Sybil was going to send him, meetings with Maurice Vaucaire about Conchita, and his travel plans to Milan, Torre de Lago and New York, and writes to David Seligman, asking for Sybil to be allowed to attend the production in Paris ("Cara Sybil, angustie sopra angustie! Qui si va di male in peggio, passo indietro esigenze ridicole tutte a causa di Mme Carré la quale a mio parere ha un rôle troppo forte. Temo che non andremo in scena o mai o forse molto tardi. Dico mai perché m’aspetto all’ultimo momento quando si eseguirà l’opera [...] Figuratevi dunque in che stato d’animo io sia! E mia salute tanto male! [...]"). - The letters to Sybil are unpublished. Puccini clearly expresses his frustration with Marguerite Carré, who sang the title role in the French premiere of Madama Butterfly; it was staged at the Opéra-Comique on 28 December 1906 and established the opera in the definitive form in which it is usually performed today. Mme. Carré was the wife of the Director of the theatre, Albert Carré (who staged and produced the opera), but was clearly out of her depth. The letter to David Seligman is published, not quite complete, in V. Seligman, Puccini Among Friends, (1938), p. 3.‎

‎Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai, Russian composer (1844-1908).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. [Brussels], 13. III. 1900.‎

‎8vo. 2 pp. on bifolium. With autograph envelope. In Russian. Insightful letter to the Russian-French journalist Michel Delines in Nice, concerning rehearsals in Brussels, obligations in St Petersburg, and the possibility of staging his operas at La Monnaie in Brussels under the forthcoming directorate of Maurice Kufferath. Rimsky-Korsakov was rehearsing "daily the programme of the concert" after which he would have to return to St Petersburg, as he was "obliged to attend the rehearsals of two symphony concerts", complaining that, "as a professor at the Conservatory", he is "always busy and obliged to be there". Concerning the staging of his operas in Brussels, Rimsky-Korsakov stresses that it is "premature to talk about it, because the theatre has not yet passed under the directorate of Kufferath". In addition, the librettos would have to be translated, "which depends on the publishers (Belaieff and Bessel)". In closing, Rimsky-Korsakov promises to "see to it that Belaieff" sends Delines "the scores of his operas that he does not know yet" but declines a visit in Paris due to his aforementioned obligations. - Rimsky-Korsakov first met Michel Delines in the summer of 1889 when he conducted two concerts on the occasion of the World Exhibition. Delines, born as Mikhael Osipovich Ashkenazi (1851-1914), had been active in revolutionary circles in Odessa and went into exile in 1878, eventually settling in Paris. There he made a name for himself as a journalist and as a promoter and translator of Russian literature, including works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. In 1888, Delines was introduced to Tchaikovsky and subsequently started to promote Russian music in his new home. He translated the libretto of "Yevgeny Onegin" and facilitated its French premiere in Nice in 1895. As this beautiful letter shows, Delines was also eager to promote Rimsky-Korsakov's music in the francophone world. The composer appreciated Delines' efforts, including a translation of his opera "Sadko". In his autobiography, Rimsky-Korsakov has warm words for the journalist: "We also made the acquaintance of Michel Delines, subsequently translator of Onyegin and of my Sadko. With the exception of Delines, all these acquaintanceships proved most superficial [...] Delines was a kind man, danced attendance upon us, aided us in many things" (My Musical Life, New York 1945, pp. 303f.). - On stationery with lithographed letterhead of the "Hotel Metropole Bruxelles". Traces of folds; minor tears to the vertical fold.‎

‎Satie, Erik, French composer (1866-1925).‎

‎Autograph lettercard signed (address field) and monogrammed "ES". Arcueil, 16. VI. 1924.‎

‎12mo. 1 p. With autograph address. In French. Beautiful pneumatic letter to the conductor Roger Désormière written two days after the scandalous premiere of the ballet Mercure with instructions for the third performance. Satie asks Désormière to return to the original version of the premiere "without the repetitions of the music while waiting for the sets", as he is "the one who pays the price for this waiting time" because "many people believe" that Satie's "music is the cause of these false intermissions - & and they 'fulminate', the very good people". He even concedes to his vocal critics: "Yes... They are right, in fact". In a charming postscriptum, Satie thanks Désormière and congratulates him on the last night's performance: "Thank you for your dedication. You are a 'chic guy' ... Very successful last night!" (transl.). - With Satie's music, stage and costume design by Pablo Picasso, and a choreography by Léonide Massine who would also dance the principal role, Mercure was supposed to be the much-needed hit for Étienne de Beaumont's ballet company Soirées de Paris. However, the premiere provoked a theatrical scandal, as different cultural factions of the Parisian avantgarde clashed in the audience. Most notoriously, the Surrealists led by André Breton and Louis Aragon tried to win over Picasso and took aim at Satie for having criticized Breton's attempt to overthrow Tzara as leader of the Dadaists. The ballet had scarcely begun when the Surrealists started chanting "Bravo Picasso! Down with Satie!" from the back of the theatre. Darius Milhaud began to argue with the Breton group, Satie fans voiced their support, and a handful of people approached Picasso's box, hurling insults at him. Police were called to restore order before the performance could continue. While the following five performances of Mercure passed without incident, the reception of the ballet and particularly of Satie's music was cold and would have a lasting negative effect on his posthumous reputation. Mercure is the least known of Satie's three ballets and little performed, even if the music has been revaluated since the scandalous premiere. - Roger Désormière (1898-1963) joined the Ballets Russes as principal conductor in 1925. He kept Satie's ballet music in his repertoire. - Traces of folds and somewhat creased. Correspondance presque complète, no. 1114.‎