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Ernst, Max, painter (1891-1976).
Autograph letter signed twice ("Max Ernst"). Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche, "Mercredi" [1939/1940].
4to. 2 pp. Highly interesting letter to the collector and critic Christian Zervos, asserting that Ernst will not emigrate to the U.S., probably following his brief internment in France as an "undesirable foreigner" at the beginning of World War II. Ernst thanks Zervos for forwarding a letter from his son Jimmy and for some issues of the Cahiers d'Art, before inviting him and his wife Yvonne Marion to his house in Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche for the summer. Emigration to the U.S. was already on the table, but Ernst writes that he has "no desire to leave" his house and therefore "will not go to live in America", preferring to "live and work" in France. In the second part of the letter, Ernst expresses his relief concerning the date of a coming exhibition in Zervos's art gallery MAI, as he much prefers "waiting until the fall" so as to "prepare a very beautiful exhibition in all tranquility". - The letter must have been written sometime between his release from French internment in Camp de Gurs around Christmas 1939 and the beginning of the German invasion of France. Soon into the German occupation, Ernst was arrested by the Gestapo but managed to escape. This time he would not return to his house in Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche, which his partner Leonora Carrington had "sold" to a neighbour for a bottle of cognac to save it from confiscation before fleeing herself. In this dangerous situation, Ernst accepted Peggy Guggenheim's offer to accompany her to New York. Jimmy Ernst had tried to secure U.S. visas for Max Ernst and his mother Luise Straus when they were interned in Gurs, but Straus would have had to marry Ernst, which she refused to do. While Max Ernst obtained his visa in 1941, Luise Straus remained in France. She was deported to Auschwitz and murdered in 1944. - Traces of folds. Minor browning and three minimal tears to the upper margin.
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Ernst, Max, Maler (1891-1976).
"Autophoto". Eigenh. Manuskript und eh. Brief mit U. "Max". Seillans, 1968 [Poststempel].
Zusammen 1¼ SS. und 1 Skizze auf 3 Bll. 4to. Mit eh. adressiertem Umschlag und einem Manuskript des Übersetzers Robert Valençay. Korrektur der französischen Übersetzung eines dadaistischen Selbstzeugnisses des Künstlers für die Schriftenausgabe "Écritures" (Paris, Gallimard, 1970), das ursprünglich 1921 unter dem Titel "Max Ernst" in der Zeitschrift "Das Junge Rheinland" erschienen war. Der Brief an den Übersetzer Robert Valançay ist unmittelbar der Übersetzung angefügt, die dieser Ernst übermittelt hatte. Ernst berichtet, dass er die Übersetzung nach der Rückkehr aus Italien, wo er sich "im Schlamm gewälzt hat", vorfand, und befindet diese als "nicht so schlecht" (Übs.); er habe sich aber "ein paar kleine Änderungen erlaubt". Diese neue Version ist in Ernsts Hand auf einem separaten Blatt beigefügt. Auf einem dritten Blatt mit Anmerkungen Valençays zu dessen Übersetzung hat Ernst eine Skizze des Sternbilds Großer Bär angefertigt, in der die Sterne Alkor und Mizar benannt sind, die im Text Erwähnung finden. - Das "Selbstbildnis" erweckt zunächst den Anschein eines prahlerischen autobiographischen Texts, der jedoch bald durch dadaistische Elemente ad absurdum geführt wird. So verleiht sich Ernst den Spitznamen "Spitzer Hahnenfuß" und behauptet, dass er mit 12 Jahren das Elternhaus verlassen habe, "um den halbwüchsigen Eisenbahnen und den wichtigsten Seezungen nachzujagen". Der Text ist ein dadaistisches Kunstwerk eigenen Rechts, und Ernst nutzt seine Korrekturen der Übersetzung Valençays für weitere Variationen des Absurden. - Zwei Sätze, die als Beschreibung seiner künstlerischen Praxis von großem Interesse sind, durchlaufen besonders spannende Transformationen. Der deutsche Text "Seine Farbgebung ist manchmal durchlocht und manchmal röhrenförmig" wurde von Valençay möglichst verständlich mit "Son coloris est parfois percé de trous et parfois en forme de tuyaux" übersetzt. Ernsts Korrektur ist auf den ersten Blick originalgetreuer, doch dürfte es ihm vor allem an der Alliteration gelegen sein: "Son coloris est parfois perforé, parfois tubulaire." Besondere Schwierigkeit bereitete Valençay der Folgesatz: "Seine Stoffausscheidung ist voller Pflanzen und Tierreste", den er mit "Le matériau qu'il secrète est plein de plantes et de restes d'animaux" übersetzte und mit einer Anmerkung versah. Ernst wirft in seiner Überarbeitung jedoch die "Stoffausscheidungen" über den Haufen und ersetzt sie durch "concrétions". Diese Änderungen können als ironische Anspielung auf die Konkrete Kunst interpretiert werden, die Max Ernsts künstlerischer Praxis denkbar fern stand. Beim Satz "Das Weib ist ihm ein mit weißem Marmor belegtes Brötchen" wurde Ernsts Überarbeitung "Pour lui, la femme est un sandwich en marbre blanc" nicht für die französische Publikation des Textes übernommen, sondern Valençays wörtliche Übersetzung beibehalten. Erwähnenswert ist auch Ernsts Beharren auf der fehlerhaften Schreibweise "Aktor" (dt. im Original) bzw. "Actor" (Überarbeitung) statt des richtigen "Alcor" in Valençays Übersetzung. Als abschließendes Beispiel für Ernsts kreative Überarbeitung sei der letzte Satz genannt: Robert Valençay übersetzt das Original "Sein Wendekreis ist Blütenraub" mit "Son tropique est un pillage d'arbres en fleur", woraus bei Ernst der poetische Satz "Son tropique est le rapt du cérisiér fleuri" wird. - Wohlerhalten. Publiziert in: Max Ernst, Écritures (Paris, Gallimard, 1970), S. 7 f.; deutsches Original in: Das junge Rheinland, Heft 2, Düsseldorf, 2.11.1921.
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Luce, Maximilien, French painter (1858-1941).
Autograph letter signed ("Luce"). Paris, "Jeudi", n. y.
8vo. 1 p. in pencil. To a Madame Jose, concerning the sale of works by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec: "J’ai bien reçu votre lettre. Vous avez raison, il faut mieux attendre Octobre car en ce moment toutes les galeries sont fermées. Donc à cette époque vous me ferez remettre les Lautrec et je m’en occuperai". - Some browning.
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Monet, Claude, French painter (1840-1926).
Autograph letter signed. Giverny, 10. III. 1891.
8vo. 1½ p. on bifolium. With autograph envelope. To his friend, the journalist and critic Gustave Geoffroy, confirming a meeting in the offices of La Justice and asking him to talk to Georges Clemenceau beforehand, concerning a possible prolongation of a pause of the military service of his eldest son Jean: "J'ai votre lettre et vous confirme ma venue pour jeudi entre 6 et 6½ à la justice, mais je voudrais-bien que vous puissiez parler avant cela à Clemenceau pour l'affaire de mon fils. Il n'est que temps d'agir et parlez dans le sens que je vous ai dit. L'enfant, comme dit Clemenceau, se trouve très bien en sa nouvelle situation chez mon frère qui souhaite bien pouvoir le garder avec lui. Dites bien, vous, à Clemenceau de faire tout son possible pour cela". - Jean Monet (1867-1914) started working as a chemist in the dye company of his uncle Léon Monet in Rouen in 1891, when his military service was not yet completed but paused. George Clemenceau, then member of the Chamber of Deputies and a great admirer of Claude Monet's art, had already helped to prolong Jean's pause selveral times. However, on 1 April 1891, Monet informed Geoffroy that Jean had left them to complete his military service, following a medical examination in Rouen. He resumed his position as a chemist in Léon Monet's factory in 1892. Georges Clemenceau and Claude Monet would become intimate friends a few years later. - Traces of folds. Published in: Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet. Biographie et catalogue raisonné 5 (Lausanne, 1991), 2807 (1100b).
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"Che" Guevara [i.e. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna], Marxist revolutionary, major figure of the Cuban Revolution (1928-1967).
Typed letter signed ("Che"). Havana, 25 August 1960, "Year of the Agrarian Reform".
4to. ¾ p. In his office as president of the National Bank of Cuba, to Samuel G. Breidner of the New York real estate company Cross & Brown: "I refer to your letter of August first and regret to inform you that our Bank is not interested in real estate investments". - Following the resignation of the economist Felipe Pazos, Che Guevara served as president of the National Bank from 26 November 1959 to 23 February 1961. The unspecified offer by Cross & Brown slightly predates the US embargo that was imposed on 19 October 1960 and was further extended in February 1962. Guevara was appointed Minister of Industries in February 1961, which he remained until his departure from Cuba in 1965. - On stationery with embossed and printed letterhead "El presidente del Banco nacional de Cuba". Traces of folds and gently creased.
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Elisabeth ("Sisi"), Kaiserin von Österreich (1837-1898).
Eigenh. Telegramm mit U. "Elisabeth". [Schweiz, zwischen 1890 und 1897].
Qu.-8vo. 4 Zeilen in Tinte auf lithogr. Telegramm. Schönes Glückwunschschreiben an ihre jüngste Tochter Marie Valerie: "I. k. k. H. Erzherzogin Valerie, Wels. In Gedanken und Wünschen bei Dir". - Marie Valerie von Österreich (1868-1924) und ihr Ehemann Franz Salvator von Österreich-Toskana (1866-1939) wohnten von 1890 bis 1897 auf Schloss Lichtenegg in Wels. Es kann spekuliert werden, dass Elisabeth ihrer Tochter anlässlich der Geburt eines der vier Kinder telegraphierte, die zwischen 1892 und 1896 geboren worden sind. Das Telegramm stammt zweifellos aus der französischen Schweiz. - Wohlerhalten.
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Fuller-Acland-Hood, Alexander, 2nd Baron St Audries, peer (1893-1971).
Autograph letter signed. Stogursey, Bridgwater, 31. III. 1940.
4to. 1¼ pp. To the musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944) about a concert the previous evening, and on his brother's current life: "Thank you so much for your letter. I was after all unable to attend the concert at Bridgwater this evening but I am sure you will have had a crowded house and an appreciative audience. I have gladly sent a contribution to the proceeds. I have often heard my brother speak of you. He is now very busy with his new military duties and fairly happy, I believe, though it is rather sad for him to be so much separated from his wife so soon after their marriage. He hopes to obtain a commission soon [...]". - With embossed letterhead.
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Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, leader of India during the Indian independence movement (1869-1948).
Autograph letter signed ("Bapu"). N. p., 18. VIII. 1940.
8vo. ½ p. In Gujarati, to his friend Behram Navroji Khambatta, added as a postcript to a letter by his secretary Mahadev Desai to the same addressee: "I am glad you wrote. I was wondering why there was no letter from you. Endure the ulcer cheerfully as gift from God [...]" (transl.). - Stamped "7561" and marked in pencil "CW 5036". Slightly browned and stained. Tracs of folds. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 79 (16 July, 1940 - 27 December, 1940), no. 136.
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[Gugitz, Gustav, Wiener Heimatforscher, Volkskundler und Kulturhistoriker (1874-1964)].
Einladung an Gustav Gugitz mit eigenh. Zeichnung und U. ("G. K."). [Wien, 1947].
1 S. 8vo. Mit halbseitiger aquarellierter Tuschezeichnung. Einladung eines nicht ermittelten Verfassers an den Heimatforscher Gustav Gugitz: "Nächste 'Viennensia' Zusammenkunft / Donnerstag 29 Mai 47 / (Dr. Engel) / bei den 'Schotten' XIX. Hackhofergasse / Treffpunkt präcise 4h beim Caffee 'Zahnradbahn' / vorletzte Haltestelle des 'D' Wagens [...]". Darüber eine Illustration des Treffpunkts und eines mit Fes und Flügeln attribuierten Mannes, der sein Glas erhebt.
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Hindenburg, Paul von, Militär und Politiker (1847-1934).
Eigenhändige Sentenz mit U. O. O. u. D.
½ S. Qu.-4to (246:203 mm). Aufgezogen auf einen Bogen Pergamentpapier (ca. 330:344 mm). "Ich habe das Heldenringen meines Vaterlandes gesehen und glaube nie und nimmermehr, daß es sein Todesringen gewesen ist! [...]". Geschrieben als Beitrag für die von Friedrich Koslowsky im Berliner Eigenbrödler-Verlag herausgegebene Faksimile-Anthologie "Deutschlands Köpfe der Gegenwart über Deutschlands Zukunft" (1928). Die Anthologie ist Hindenburg gewidmet und seine Sentenz, begleitet von einem großen Portrait, allen anderen Sentenzen vorangestellt. - Paul von Hindenburg, der nach seiner ruhmreichen militärischen Reaktivierung im Zuge des ersten Weltkriegs erneut seinen Ruhestand angetreten hatte, wurde Mitte der 1920er Jahre von den konservativen Parteien gedrängt, sich als Kandidat für das Reichspräsidentenamt aufstellen zu lassen und schließlich mehrheitlich gewählt. Hindenburg bekundete trotz monarchistischer Gesinnung seine Loyalität zur der Weimarer Verfassung und fand auch im demokratischen Lager weitgehende Akzeptanz. Sein späterer zweiter Wahlsieg als Präsidentschaftskandidat für die Sozialdemokraten und die Parteien der politischen Mitte gegen Hitler bekräftigte seine Stellung in der noch jungen Republik. Darauf folgende politische Fehleinschätzungen und schließlich der Tod des Staatslenkers Hindenburg führten jedoch in kürzester Zeit zur nationalsozialistischen Diktatur. Koslowsky (10f.).
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Hitler, Adolf, German dictator (1889-1945).
Portrait postcard signed. No place, [ca. 1923].
8vo. 1 p. The knee-length portrait, taken around the year 1923, depicts Hitler in a trenchcoat. Photographed by Heinrich Hoffmann (erroneously spelled "Hofmann" at lower right), later became dictator's official photographer and a member of his inner circle.
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Horner, Francis, politician and journalist (1778-1817).
Autograph letter signed. The Temple, 25. VI. 1807.
8vo. 1¾ pp. on bifolium. Mounted on backing paper. To his friend, the advocate Thomas Thomson (1768-1852), about their annual meeting during summer holidays and a trip Horner plans to go on with the author and judge John A. Murray: "You are now thinking, I hope, of your arrangements for coming to the south in the course of the long vacation. We never seem to have any intercourse except when we meet in the flesh; and I hope while we can move, we shall contrive to hold that communication once at least every year. Gout and rheumatism will come upon us soon enough [...] There will be no difficulty in getting chambers for you: or if you prefer being more to the westward, I shall have no objection to live in Albany, where Lord Webb is so kind as to let me have the use of his set of chambers [...]". - In 1807 both Horner and Thomson were elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, at the proposition of John Playfair, Sir James Hall and Thomas Allan. - With collector's note to backing paper. Slightly browned due to paper and slight brownstaining.
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Kun, Béla, Hungarian Communist politician (1886-1938).
Typed letter signed ("Béla Kun"). Moscow, August 1924.
Folio. 1 p. The letterhead reads "Agitational-Propagandist Department of the E.C.C.I., Moscou" in German, French, English, and Russian. Also included is an English translation of the letter and a typed dossier on Kun in English, dated 1931. A rare letter signed by one of the most notorious early Bolshevik leaders and a proponent of international communism. Béla Kun led the brutal and short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, oversaw the massacre of tens of thousands of people when he controlled the Revolutionary Committee in Crimea in 1920, and spurred the German Communist Party into an abortive uprising in March 1921. While he lost the active support of Lenin with this last failure, Kun continued to hold a number of significant positions in Comintern throughout the 1920s. He disappeared in 1937 in the midst of Stalin's Great Purge, and was shot as a Trotskyite in 1938, following a show-trial. - In this letter, Kun orders that future copies of specific publications (he lists "Rote Fahne, S.A.Z., Kämpfer, Ruhr-Echo, Schlesische A.Z., Volkswacht Mecklenburg, Klassenkampf") be sent to the central committee of Comintern's Agitprop department for scrutiny, in order to ensure better control and management of communist publications. As Kun explains, "Die Exekutive der K.I. stellte der Agitprop-Abteilung des E.K.K.I. die Aufgabe, die gesamte kommunistische Presse eingehend zu kontrollieren [...] Wir haben deshalb beschlossen, in einer Frist von 3 Monaten die wichtigsten Parteiorgane einiger Sektionen einer eingehenden Beobachtung und Kontrolle zu unterziehen [...]". Regarding the specific publications, Kun adds, "Wir bitten Euch, uns umgehend und regelmässig je drei Exemplare dieser Zeitungen zuzusenden." He signs off "Mit kommunistischem Gruss!". - Lightly worn and creased; insignificant tears to lower edge. A vanishingly rare signature.
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Milman, Henry Hart, historian and ecclesiastic (1791-1868).
Autograph letter signed. Swanage, August 1925.
8vo. 1 page. Mounted on backing paper. On work matters: "The enclosed note relates to a MS which Mr Murray [i. e. John A. Murray, 1778-1859] enclosed for me to read - it may be forwarded at any time. What is the reason of the total discontinuance of the Horace. I have received nothing from the Printer for, I should think, a fortnight [...]". - During his brilliant university career, Milman was elected professor of poetry at Oxford, in 1827 delivered the "Bampton lectures", and in the 1940s became Dean of St Paul's. - Paper pierced in places; slight brownstaining. With collector's note to backing paper.
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Mirabeau, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti comte de, French revolutionary (1749-1791).
"Le lecteur y mettra le titre". Autograph manuscript (fragment). [Amsterdam, ca. 1777].
Small 4to. 4 pp. on bifolium. This beautiful manuscript corresponds with pages 17 (3rd paragraph) to 24 (1st line) of the 1777 publication of Mirabeau's defence of instrumental music, "Le lecteur y mettra le titre". Published anonymously and giving London as a fictitious place of printing, Mirabeau was previously identified as the author of the text based on two letters. The manuscript in Mirabeau's hand confirms his authorship beyond any doubt. - The text was written in Amsterdam, just before Mirabeau's arrest and four-year imprisonment in Vincennes, under the impression of a performance of Ignazio Raimondi's symphony "Les aventures de Télémaque dans l'isle de Calypso". The manuscript contains several revisions and changes that were adopted for the publication, while small discrepancies remain unaccounted for. It comprises Mirabeau's central questions, a general definition of music as "the art of combining sounds in a manner that is pleasing to the ear", and parts of his historical argument. - Mirabeau, who had no musical education, adopts the rhetorics of the paragone, opposing vocal music and instrumental music in order to determine which is superior in expressing emotions. While the development of the argument and Mirabeau's historical references are quite traditional, the defence of instrumental music and his assertion that it is more expressive in terms of conveying emotions, even if vocal music can offer a narrative based on texts, is unique in its time and appears to anticipate the Romantic predilection for programme music. The Neapolitan violonist and composer Ignazio Raimondi (ca. 1735-1813) was a student of Emanuele Barbella and member of the orchestra of the Teatro di San Carlo before moving to Amsterdam in 1762, where he was a successful soloist and impresario. From 1785, Raimondi was mostly active in London, where he died in 1813. - Some browning and some damage due to ink corrosion, several tears partly affecting the text (one professionally restored). Le lecteur y mettra le titre, Londres [i.e., Paris, s.n.], 1777. Cf. Bellinda Cannone, Le lecteur y mettra le titre. Un pamphlet de Mirabeau en faveur de la musique instrumentale, in: Dix-Huitième Siècle 20 (1988), pp. 403-414.
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Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de, French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher (1689-1755).
Document with autograph annotation signed ("Montesquieu"). Château de La Brède, 13. VI. 1717.
4to. 3 lines on vellum. Beautiful autograph on the last page of a copy of a contract with the tax stamp of the generality of Bordeaux (fol. 1r). Montesquieu probably annotated and signed this document, originally drawn up on 5 May 1712 in Castiers, in his role as président à mortier of Bordeaux, confirming that he had "received the sous and taxes of the present contract" and "canceled the third": "J'ai reçu les sols et rentes du present contrat et ai quitté le tiers". - Montesquieu had inherited his title, a large fortune and his office in Bordeaux from his uncle Jean-Baptiste de Secondat in 1716. He would remain président à mortier for 10 years until 1726, when he was forced to sell his venal office in order to settle debts. - Minimally smudged.
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Phélypeaux de La Vrillière, Louis, French statesman (1599-1681).
Letter signed. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 30. VI. 1662.
4 to. 1 p. on bifolium. In his office as Secretary of State for Protestant Affairs, responding negatively to a complaint by a Madame de Saint Cosme: "Jay receu une de vos lettres sans datte avec un mémoire des consul. des habitans relig.ses de vre terre de St. Cosme sur les pretentions touchant l’exercice aud.t lieu. Comme la chose sans doubte a esté bien examinée par Mess.rs les commissaires avant que de la descider, il est à croire que le jugement qu’ils rendu est juste. Je suis fasché que vous ayez sujet de vous en plaindre […]". - Until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Secretary of State for Protestant Affairs had the responsibilty of enforcing the Edict and settling conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots on an administrative level. Over the 17th century, increasing pressure was put on the French Huguenots, which led to many complaints, generally unsuccessful. Members of the Phélypeaux family held the office from 1610 until 1775. - Traces of folds. Some foxing.
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Pompadour, Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de, mistress of Louis XV (1721-1764).
Autograph letter signed ("La M. de Pompadour"). N. p., 19. XI. 1754.
4to. 1½ pp. In French. Highly interesting letter that is part of an affair surrounding the admission of a member of the House of Hénin and courtier of the Marquise de Pompadour to the Order of Malta. Apparently, the bailiff of Saint-Simon, a cousin of the Duc de Saint-Simon and unquestionably a political enemy of the Marquise, tried to prevent the desired admission of Hénin. The Marquise immediately put pen to paper and intervened on behalf of her courtier, casting doubt on the credibility of the detractor. The letter contains "two reflections" on the matter; it accompanied a further letter to a high-ranking Knight Hospitaller, most likely Louis Gabriel de Froulay, ambassador of the Order of Malta to Louis XV: "The 1st, his having been my gentleman, cannot disadvantage Mr. d'Hennin to enter the Order of Malta, since there is more than one example of dear ones who are admitted, whose fathers had belonged to ladies of the court, and even to titled names. The 2nd, that to serve the King at the table is a very great honour, and that it is usually the governors of the royal houses who are in possession of it, Monsieur the Bailiff of St Simon cannot say what he saw at my table, since he has never been there" (transl.). In closing, she asks the recipient to inform the Grand Master before he makes any decision and announces that M. Rouillé, probably the Secretary of State Antoine Louis Rouillé, will give him "an exact account of the affair". - The intervention appears to have been successful: the Marquise's protégé was probably François-Joseph de Hénin-Liétard (b. 1729), who was received into the Order of Malta on 16 March 1755. - Well preserved.
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[Vietnamese mythology].
"Histoire sur la vie du grand Génie de Bac Ninh ong Thanh Dong, dit vulgairement Thanh Giong ou en caractères Dông Thiên Vuong". Manuscript on the legend of Thánh Gióng. N. p., [mid-19th century].
Folio (200 x 312 mm). French manuscript on paper. 8½ pp. on 6 ff. Sewn. Together with a lithographed text in Chinese on rice paper. Folio (168 x 314 mm). 6 pp. on 7 ff. Sewn. Entitled "History of the life of the great Genie of Bac Ninh ong Thanh Dong, commonly known as Thánh Gióng, or in characters as Dông Thiên Vuong", the manuscript describes eight episodes from the Thánh Gióng legend in idiosyncratic French. The first and longest part is a rendering of the core story of the hero's victory over an invading Chinese army as a three-year-old child: "Le Roi de Hung Vuong envoyait ses ambassadeurs d’aller à la recherche à celui qui pourra se rendre maître à ces guerriers belliqueux. Les ambassadeurs du Roi étaient alors arrivés à Phu Dong. Le Dông Thiên Vuong était âgé de 3 ans, étendu sur un lit en bambous disait aux ambassadeurs quand on m’aura procuré d’un cheval de fer et un sabre je me rendrai maître aux guerriers belliqueux" ("The King of Hung Vuong sent his ambassadors to go in search of the one who will be able to make himself master to these warlike warriors. The King's ambassadors arrived at Phu Dong. The Dông Thiên Vuong was 3 years old, lying on a bed of bamboo said to the ambassadors when one will have provided me with an iron horse and a saber I will make myself master to the warlike warriors", transl.). The following seven episodes have a more concrete temporal setting tied to the succeeding Vietnamese dynasties, ranging from the 1st and 2nd Lê dynasties (between 980 and 1788) to the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945). These are all accounts of miracles performed by the now divine Thánh Gióng against invading armies and other enemies of the Vietnamese kings. In a note on the final page, the French copyist ascribes the original text to an author named Nguyen Hui Thiên from the district ("huyen") of "Tiên Do", probably Tiên Du in the northern Bac Ninh province. - Lower right margin of the final 3 leaves torn without loss to text; upper right corner creased.
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Barrie, James Matthew, Scottish author and dramatist (1860-1937).
Portrait photograph signed. No place or date.
170 x 110 mm. A photograph of James M. Barrie, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. Signed and inscribed in fountain pen by Barrie, reading, "Yours truly, J. M. Barrie." Cabinet Photograph in a handsome profile pose, produced by the famous Elliott & Fry of London. "The firm of Elliott & Fry was founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott (1835-1903) and Clarence Edmund Fry (1840-97), who opened their first premises at 55 Baker Street where they stayed at until 1886. The firm employed a variety of operators who took the photographs, including Francis Henry Hart and Alfred James Philpott in the Edwardian era, Herbert Lambert and Walter Benington in the 1920s and 1930s and subsequently William Flowers. In the early 1940s the studio was bombed and most of the early negatives were destroyed. Shortly after the firm's centenary in 1963 it was taken over by and amalgamated with Bassano & Vandyk. The National Portrait Gallery owns all the surviving negatives" (National Portrait Gallery).
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Baudelaire, Charles, French poet (1821-1867).
Autograph letter signed "Carlos". [Lyon], 23. XI. 1833.
4to. 3 pp. on bifolium. With autograph address. In French. Beautiful juvenile letter to his half-brother Alphonse, thanking him for a "beautiful edition of Juvenal" and promising to study so as to achieve good grades. Baudelaire, then a 12-year-old schoolboy at the Collège Royal de Lyon, had received gifts and awards for his good performance, although he must "shamefully admit" that he "obtained these advantages without much effort". Therefore, he promises to improve: "this year I want to cram heavily so that if I do not succeed, I shall have nothing for which to blame myself". He describes the excitement of receiving the awards and gifts that motivated him: "It is really nice to hear your name proclaimed for an award, to which you add this sentence 7 times nominated! Nominated in all subjects! And then it's your mother or father who crowns you! [...] With these prizes, one accumulates book after book, and then the gifts of the parents and then those of the brother too. Because they are beautiful". Finally, he explains with the help of three sketches the gift of a phenakistiscope that he had received from his stepfather Jacques Aupick: "This word is as strange as the invention. [...] It is a cardboard box in which there is a small mirror that is placed on a table between two candles. There is also a handle to which a cardboard circle with small holes all around is adapted. On top of it we add another cardboard drawing, the drawing turned towards the mirror. Then one makes turn, and one looks by the small holes in the mirror where one sees very pretty drawings". The phenakistiscope was the first widespread animation device that created a fluent illusion of motion. It was invented in 1832, only one year before the young Charles Baudelaire received this novelty from his stepfather. - A fascinating letter that provides a valuable insight into Baudelaire's childhood. Good grades without much effort is a fitting summary of his school career. While his high intelligence and intellectual precociousness were obvious, he was also erratic in his studies and was often scolded for idleness. - Traces of folds. With a tear from breaking the seal and minor tears to the folds but no text loss. Some browning and somewhat creased overall. Published in: Correspondance (Pléiade), vol. I, p. 21; Exposition Baudelaire, Petit Palais 1968 (no. 37).
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Dale, Frederic (John), British light composer (1872-1956).
Autograph letter signed. Worlebury, Weston-super-Mare, 13. V. 1934.
4to. 4 pp. on 3 ff. To the fellow musician Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944), remembering times spent together in 1914, and with news since then. Dale's wife has passed away, and he himself has moved back to his native Weston-super-Mare: "At long-last I have 'got-down' to do that which I have not once but a dozen times wished, attempted ... yes, actually started to do ... To send you a line. Now, it is I read (in the 'Evening World', which seems to claim you as a bit o' property!) of MARY. THAT settled it ... there is a wee ditty in my very overstacked folio, that very truly belongs to MARY ... so I, at long-last again, send it. You are going to laugh at this. What I remember most o' you (& I remember, gladly, 'quite' a bit') is a meeting on the Cornish Cliffs & the three words 'THIS IS MARY' when 'presenting' the little maid to me [...] My doctor told me - in 1921 - it was either 'OOT O' LONDON' or 'CEMETARY' for me - NERVES. So, I, not being over keen about cemetaries, came down HERE. I rarely see Weston. I just DON'T LIKE ... That's all [...]". - With embossed letterheads. First leaf slightly yellowed.
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Daudet, Léon, French writer (1867-1942).
Autograph letter signed. [Paris], "31 rue Saint Guillaume", 17 March 1938.
4to. 1 p. To general Philippe Pétain (1856-1951), without being formerly acquainted, expressing his great appreciation. Pétain, he writes, had been a source of encouragement for Daudet in a decisive phase of his work on George Clemenceau ("La vie orageuse de Clemenceau", Albin Michel, 1938), because Pétain embodied the same strength and vision that had fascinated Daudet in General Charles Mangin's counter-offensive (at Méry-Courcelles in 1918). Daudet is concerned for Pétain's health; he sees the war with Germany as inevitable and stresses that France would have urgent need of Pétain at this time: "Sans avoir l'honneur de vous connaitre, j'ai pour vous autant d'amitié que d'admiration, et vous vous en apercevrez quand je publierai, bientôt je peux, mon ouvrage sur Clemenceau [...] ce qui m'a attiré par vous, c'est votre mépris des honneurs et de l'avancement, l'indépendance de votre jugement. J'aimais Mangin, et il y a en vous cette même force et clairvoyance, qui m'attirait dans le vainqueur de Méry-Courcelles [...] Il m'est bouleversé de penser que vous avez été opéré et que votre santé est fléchissant, car la France a besoin de vous. La guerre est certaine [...]". - Paper slightly browned, with a small break.
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Jules, Verne, French writer (1828-1905).
1 autograph letter signed and 1 autograph letter (signature clipped). Amiens, 30 Dec. 1901 and 13 Aug. 1902.
12mo. Together 2¼ pp. on bifolia. Both to Jules Verne's younger sister Anna. The earlier letter from 30 December 1901 contains New Year's wishes, news about Jules Verne's health, and an invitation to visit him and his wife Honorine in Amiens: "Nous te renvoyons nos vœux, pour cette nouvelle année 1902 dans laquelle je vais achever ma soixante-quatorzième ! Mes yeux sont toujours dans le même état et je ne me déciderai à subir l'opération que le jour où ce sera absolument nécessaire. Je sais que tous les enfants vont bien, et je te renouvelle ce que je te disais dans ma dernière lettre : si tu reviens dans le nord, tache de t'arrêter, soit pour quelques heures, ou bien quelques jours à Amiens, cela nous fera grand plaisir". - The second letter from August 1902 again concerns Jules Verne's eye cataract and his decision to delay surgery as long as possible: "Honorine et moi, nous t'envoyons nos meilleurs compléments, en te priant de les transmettre à ton fils ! Cependant, cette double bénédiction ne laisse pas d'être lourde, comme tu le dis. Mais il faut bien l'accepter. Honorine n'a pas trop à se plaindre de sa santé. Et toi ?... Pour moi, j'y vais mal. Je n'ai point encore été opéré de mon cataracte, et je me n'y déciderai que lorsqu'il ne sera plus possible de faire autrement. Tant que je pourrai lire et écrire, même difficilement, j'attendrai [...]". - The earlier letter without signature due to clipping. Well preserved.
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Louÿs, Pierre, French poet and novelist (1870-1925).
Autograph letter monogramed. No place, "Jeudi" [after April 1915, before April 1917].
8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. In French. Intriguing letter to an unnamed recipient, offering an assessment of the Allied Powers' submarine fleets as opposed to those of the Axis Powers and their importance for maritime warfare in World War I. Louÿs first quotes a list from Raoul Testu de Balincourt's famous almanac "Flottes de combat", dated 1 June 1914, and explains why the Ottoman and Austrian fleets may be ignored. According to his assessment, the German fleet lacked "dreadnoughts to protect their ensign" and thus, at this point, "no German nor Austrian vessel can navigate (steam, sail, or armoured) any sea on the globe", while "all commercial ships of the Allies freely navigate throughout the entire world", only running "some risk along the English coasts, in the Adriatic sea, and especially in the Baltic". In this situation, the combined 218 submarines of the Allies were, according to Louÿs, "practically useless", and they "could have stopped building them, as fear of the Allied dreadnoughts alone sufficed to chase the enemy's standard from all oceans", while the submarines found no German ships left "to torpedo". - The letter must have been written after Italy joined the Allies in April 1915 and before the United States entered the war two years later. The Allied naval blockade of Germany was indeed successful at restricting the German Navy to the German Bight. However, the German submarine fleet inflicted significant damage on the British merchant fleet before the establishment of the convoy system in the second half of 1917. - Well preserved.
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Mann, Thomas und George R. Marek, Schriftsteller und Nobelpreisträger (1875-1955) bzw. Musikproduzent und Biograph (1902-1987).
"Das Gesetz" und "The Law". 2 Typoskripte mit zahlreichen eigenh. Korrekturen, Widmung und U. New York, Oktober 1943.
I: "Das Gesetz". 60¼ SS. auf 61 Bll. - II: "The Law". 71½ SS. auf 72 Bll. Zwischengebunden (1½+1½ =) 3 SS. auf 2 Bll. ms. Korrekturverzeichnis. Nachgebunden sind eine alternative Version des Schlusses (1½ SS. auf 2 Bll.), 4 (davon 2 eh. adr.) Kuverts von Thomas Mann an George Marek und 6 ms. Durchschläge von Briefen Mareks an Thomas Mann. Dunkelgrüner Kalbslederband mit vergoldetem Deckeltitel, -fileten und -fleurons. 4to. Mit einer Beilage (s. u.). Unikales Ensemble von Thomas Manns einziger Auftragsarbeit im deutschsprachigen Original und in englischer Übersetzung, beide mit zahlreichen eh. Korrekturen von Thomas Mann und einigen wenigen von George Marek, der diesen Band als Erinnerung an die gemeinsame Arbeit zusammengestellt hat und binden ließ. Thomas Mann widmete ihn am 20. Oktober 1942 mit den Worten: "An George Marek / tief gerührt von der Ehre, die er diesen Blättern erwies. Dem glänzenden Uebersetzer herzlich dankbar [...]". - 1941 war der aus Wien stammende Musikverleger, Librettist, Texter und Drehbuchautor Armin L. Robinson zusammen mit seiner Frau in die USA emigriert. Von den amerikanischen Unternehmungen des in Deutschland und Österreich erfolgreichen Librettisten weiß man wenig, gesichert ist jedoch, dass er Thomas Mann zu dessen bis dato erster (und schließlich auch letzter) Auftragsarbeit überreden konnte, nämlich einen Beitrag für die von ihm herausgegebene Anthologie "The Ten Commandments. Ten Short Novels of Hitler's War Against the Moral Code" zu verfassen. Mann, der von Mitte Jänner bis Mitte März mit seinem Beitrag beschäftigt war, war neben Rebecca West, Franz Werfel, John Erskine, Bruno Frank, Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Jules Romains, André Maurois, Sigrid Undset und Louis Bromfield einer von zehn Autoren, die jeweils eine Erzählung zu einem der zehn Gebote schrieben. Da seine reguläre englische Übersetzerin Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter damals mit anderen Arbeiten für ihn beschäftigt gewesen war, war Mann schließlich auf den in Österreich geborenen Musikkritiker und -schriftsteller George Marek (1902-87) gestoßen, der seit 1920 in New York lebte und für eine Werbeagentur tätig war; ab 1950 sollte Marek als Manager für die Plattenfirma RCA Victor arbeiten und schließlich Ende der 1950er Jahr zu deren Vizepräsidenten aufsteigen. Im Frühjahr und Sommer wechselten Mann und Marek mehrere Briefe (die Durchschläge von sechs Briefen Mareks liegen hier vor), in denen Übersetzungsdetails besprochen wurden, und im Spätsommer bzw. Herbst erschien Manns Erzählung schließlich unter dem Titel "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" in der genannten Anthologie bei Simon & Schuster. Im Jahr darauf folgte die deutschsprachige Erstveröffentlichung bei Bermann Fischer in Stockholm, und es entspann sich ein den Dichter enervierender Streit um die Frage nach dem Urheberrecht an der Erzählung. An sich war Mann Bermann Fischer verpflichtet (und durch diesen Alfred A. Knopf für den englischsprachigen Raum), doch hatte er unbedacht das Urheberrecht an Robinson abgetreten und es auch zugelassen, dass Felix Guggenheim eine "Luxusausgabe" in seiner Pacific Press herausbrachte. "As if this weren't enough, Knopf insisted on having the English version of the story done again from scratch by Mann's regular translator, Helen T. Lowe-Porter, a directive Mann described in his diary as 'a terrible blow for Marek', adding, 'I am disgusted by these trivialities' [...]" (Faber/Lehmann, Introduction, S. X). Das eh. Manuskript seiner Erzählung vermachte Mann noch im selben Jahr der Library of Congress, deren Briefpapier er für seine Niederschrift benutzt hatte. - Kleine Gebrauchsspuren, sonst ausgesprochen frisch mit Ausnahme von Mareks Briefdurchschlägen, die auf brüchigem, stark gebräuntem Papier getippt sind; der Einband an Gelenken und stellenweise auch an den Kanten stark berieben, sonst gut erhalten. - Beiliegend: Thomas Mann, Das Gesetz. Erzählung (Stockholm, Bermann Fischer, 1944). 160 SS. Illustrierter OPbd. 8vo. EA (WG², 90). Bindung leicht gelockert, Umschlag gebräunt, innen tadellos erhalten. Thomas Mann, The Tables Of The Law. Translated by Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann (Philadelphia, Paul Dry Books, 2010).
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Miller, Henry, American novelist (1891-1980).
Autograph manuscript with autograph note monogrammed. No place, [1979-1980].
4to. English manuscript in black felt-tip pen on paper. 10 pp. Together with two copies of a typescript with corrections. An excerpt from Henry Miller's 1979 publication "Joey. A Loving Portrait of Alfred Perlès Together With Some Bizarre Episodes Relating to the Other Sex" for Irving Stettner's Stroker Magazine, where it appeared under the final title "Vienna and Back", rather than "Love and Sex", as suggested by Miller in the manuscript. In the autograph note in the margin of the first page, Miller explains to his secretary Sandy: "I cut this out of 'Joey' and sent it to Stettner for his 'Stroker'". - The short story tells of the meeting and Viennese love affair of a young American woman, Nelly, with a swindler called Albert, that is cut short because of Albert's pending trial and Nelly's romantic expectations, aware that her lover is only interested in her for sex. The opening of the story foreshadows the end of the affair: "She was unquestionably a sexy bitch, one would say. And he, well he, well he was like a guy without a pair of balls. An odd couple, truly. They had met on a trans-continental flight. Both were headed to the same place: Vienna". Nelly breaks up this odd couple within a week and returns to her native Shreveport in Louisiana without regrets, asserting: "I will always be thankful for the things you taught me. You were just wonderful in bed. But we don't spend our whole life in bed, do we?" Albert, on the other hand, is more affected than he could have imagined: "For the first time in his life Albert knew what is meant by the pangs of love". - Henry Miller and Irving Stettner (1922-2004) collaborated from 1978 to 1980. An edition of Miller's contributions to Stroker Magazine, including "Vienna and Back", appeared under the title "From Your Capricorn friend" in 1984, four years after Miller's death. - With old staple marks. Well preserved.
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Milton, John, English poet and intellectual (1608-1674).
Autograph quotation signed ("Jo. Milton"). No place, 1634.
Ca. 53:106 mm. Laid onto paper piece and mounted on part of album leaf. Autograph signature with words in his hand: "pro [or pre?] 12s 6d 1634". - Provenance: John Nichols (1745-1826), printer, author and antiquary, an intimate friend of Dr Johnson, Boswell, Horace Walpole, etc. - This autograph was contained in an early 19th century album, the first page of which bears the laid-down inscription "These Autographs were collected by my youngest Daughter Anne Susanna / J Nichols / Oct 29. 1813". John Nichols was apprenticed to William Bowyer (known as "The Learned Printer") in 1759 and eventually succeeded him in the business and became the foremost printer of his time. Nichols was editor and printer of The Gentleman's Magazine from 1788. He was an eminent antiquary and amassed a great quantity of literary and historical documents, mostly in connection with his literary works, such as his "History and Antiquities of Leicester" (1795-1815) and "Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century Consisting of Original Letters of Eminent Persons" (1817). He was not an autograph collector himself and disposed of his papers by giving many away or by donations to museums. Since his death many of his papers were acquired by the British Library, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, and many were dispersed by Sotheby's over a period spanning almost 100 years from 1878. However, he encouraged his youngest daughter, Anne Susanna Nichols (1788-1853), in the pursuit, and in a letter to her he wrote: "There can be no reasonable objection to your collecting the Autographs of Persons who have been eminent either for high station or Literary Talent, as the hand-writing often the index of the Mind; the pursuit is harmless and even meritorious, provided it be made as a matter of amusement and not of business which would be incompatible with the duties of a Female. I never had the leisure, or the inclination to make such a Collection for which during the long period of sixty years I had every Facility, and I now regret that I have destroyed many hundreds and given away many more, which might have furnished for you a rich Collection. I am glad, however, to be still able to add a few names of evidence [...]". - Anne Susanna and her brother, John Bowyer Nichols, went on to become two the 19th century's foremost collectors of autographs, many of their choicest items now being held in national collections. Anne Susanna's nephew John Gough Nichols was the author of "Autographs of Royal, Noble, Learned and Remarkable Personages Conspicuous in English History" (1829), which did much to popularise the collecting of autographs. This autograph of John Milton is sold together with John Nichols' laid-down inscription from the first leaf of Anne Susanna's album. - Old creases and tears with some paper losses just touching the "J" of "Jo.", but with no loss to signature or inscription.
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Pound, Ezra, American poet (1885-1972).
Autograph note signed. No place, 12. VII. 1959.
110 x 150 mm. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder. An unusual handwritten letter from Pound, who writes on one side, "Every man has the right to have his ideas examined one at a time. The present tax system is unadulterated shit soaked in stupidity." The reverse bears a few notations in another hand, making reference to the English translator and poet Edward Powys Mathers and his pseudonym "Torquemada”. - Written on Ezra Pound's rare personal portrait stationery. A light central vertical fold to the Card, some tape remnants to the reverse. Very good.
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Proust, Marcel, French writer (1871-1922).
3 letters dictated by Marcel Proust. Paris, 1921-1922.
8vo. Together 7 pp. In French. From the correspondence with the publisher Jacques Rivière, concerning the publication of extracts of the "Recherche" in Rivière's Nouvelle Revue Française (NRF). The earliest letter, dated 17 January 1921, was dictated to his then secretary Henri Rochat, the later letters (September and October 1922) to his assistant Céleste Albaret. - The first letter concerns the forthcoming publication of the extract "Le Baiser" from "Le côté des Guermantes" on 1 February 1921. Proust relates that he "worked all night" on the proofs, lamenting that Rivière is a "quite demanding master". He also mentions that he suggested to Gaston Gallimard working simultaneously with several printers on "Guermantes" and the fourth volume "Sodome et Gomorrhe I et II", as he "could correct many proofs", but has not yet received an answer: "nous gagnerions beaucoup de temps si j'envoyais ma fin corrigée de Guermantes II à un second imprimeur et le manuscrit de Sodome I à un troisième imprimeur ; mais tout cela est pour un même ouvrage peut'être es [!] impossible d'atteler plusieurs imprimeurs à un même ouvrage". Although Proust himself doubts how feasible this suggestion may be, he stresses that it is important not to lose a single day. In closing, he points to a misprint: "le brouillon parle d'un 'entreteneur', alors que l'épreuve parle d'un 'entrepreneur', ce qui "ne veut rien dire du tout". - The second letter can be dated to 22 September 1922. Written in third person, it first relates how Proust suffered from "asthmatic crises such as he never had before", which made it "impossible to occupy himself with the book". Concerning the ongoing publications, Proust laments that "the extract le sommeil d'Albertine is a bit short and should be seasoned with adjacent pieces". While Proust had previously been "indifferent" to the placement of his extracts in the NRF, he now wishes to be "put first", although he understands if this is not possible. - The final letter can be dated to 12 or 13 October, a month before Proust's death. Incapable of correcting proofs of extracts from "La Prisonnière" himself, due to a high fever, Proust asks Rivière to eliminate any repetitions. He also condemns the ending of the final phrase "on the artist and the man of reason" as stupid, wondering how such a mistake could have happened: "Comme ma fièvre a sensiblement augmenté, je n'ai plus ajouté de corrections à celle que j'ai déjà faites. Si vous avez la gentillesse de jeter un œil bienveillant sur le tout, qui n’est pas long, vous pourrez peut-être enlever quelques redites, qui affaiblisse. En tous cas je ne puis comprendre par quel erreur de manuscrit la phrase finale fini si bêtement, sur l'artiste et l'homme de bon sens". In the final sentence of the letter, Proust bids farewell to Rivière, expecting that he will not be able to dictate further letters. - Gallimard had originally refused to publish the "Recherche" based on the judgment of André Gide, and Proust published "Du côté de chez Swann" at his own expense with Grassot in 1914. Gide later apologized to Proust, and Jacques Rivière managed to secure the publication rights for Gallimard, starting with "À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs" in 1918. Apart from being his editor at Gallimard and the NRF, Jacques Rivière was one of Proust's earliest admirers and defenders. Their correspondence stretches from 1914 to 1922. - Traces of folds. Letter from September 1922 with an old restoration. Published in: Corr., XX, no. 18 ; XXI, nos. 328 and 344; Marcel Proust et Jacques Rivière, Correspondance, 1914-1922, Paris: Gallimard, 1976, nos. 101, 185 and 192.
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Verne, Jules, French writer (1828-1905).
Autograph letter signed ("Jules Verne"). Amiens, 7. V. 1906.
12mo. ¾ p. To a journalist, thanking him for his favourable reviews in the Gazette de France, especially for an article on his famous novel "Around the World in Eighty Days": "Je n'ai jamais négligé de lire vos articles de critique dans la Gazette de France, et, croyez-le bien, j'en ai apprécié toute la valeur. Je viens donc vous remercier pour celui relatif au Tour du Monde, que vous avez la bonté de m'envoyer, et je vous en remercie bien cordialement. Veuillez croire aux bons sentiments de votre dévoué compatriote". - Some browning. With traces of former mounting.
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Brahms, Johannes, Komponist (1833-1897).
Eigenh. Briefkarte mit U. [Bern], 11. VII. 1888.
1 S. Qu.-8vo. Mit eigenh. Adresse. An seinen Verleger Fritz Simrock in Berlin: "Wir sind hier im Trubel, Frl. Spies, Hegar etc etc ich kann den Augenblick nichts andres schreiben als diesen frdl. Gruß an Sie, zugleich schönste Treppenreisen bei S[enff] und A[stor] herzlich anwünschend! Hoffentlich ist übrigens hernach kein Schreiben mehr nöthig, sonst versucht dies Ihr J. B. / Wollen Sie nicht meinen Brief bei P. lesen?". - Hermine Spies galt als eine der führenden Altistinnen in Europa und als hervorragende Interpretin der Werke von Johannes Brahms, dem sie auch persönlich freundschaftlich verbunden war; der Schweizer Cellist Johannes Hegar war der Patensohn von Brahms. Simrock seinerseits hegte Pläne zur Übernahme der Musikverlage von Bartholf Senff und Edmund Astor, der Teilhaber im Musikverlag seines Schwiegervaters Rieter-Biedermann war. - Ein größerer Papierdurchbruch am unteren Rand (minimale Buchstabenberührung).
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Drouet, Louis, French flautist and composer (1792-1873).
"Mélodies de l'opéra 'Belisario' de Donizetti, transcrites pour piano et flûte". Autograph musical manuscript. N. p., 1857.
Folio. Title, 30 pp. Brown ink on 12-stave paper, 4 systems of 3 staves per page. Sewn. Louis Drouet dedicated his arrangement of melodies from Donizetti's opera "Belisario" (1836) for flute and piano to his daughter Lina Drouet. The piece was intended to be performed as a "morceau de salon". - Often referred to as the "Paganini of the flute", Louis Drouet was one of the most celebrated flautists of his time. The son of an expatriate French barber in Amsterdam was an autodidact before entering the Paris conservatory at the age of seven. At 16, he was first flutist and teacher of Louis Bonaparte, then King of Holland. An international career as a flute virtuoso followed. Among his stage partners and friends was Felix Mendelssohn. In 1840, Drouet was appointed director of music by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. - The title written in a different hand. Some foxing and browning; tears to the fold of the title-leaf.
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Gershwin, George, American composer and pianist (1898-1937).
Typed letter signed. New York, 4. VIII. 1930.
4to. ¾ p. Together with a portrait photograph (204 x 252 mm). To Byron H. Collins, sales manager at Steinway & Sons and an amateur pianist, concerning a two-piano arrangement of "Rhapsody in Blue" and other arrangements for two pianos: "I am very glad to know that you are having success with the two piano arrangement of the 'Rhapsody in Blue'. Unfortunately the list of two piano compositions is very limited. The only other of my compositions which is published for two pianos is my 'Concerto in F' - the second piano of course plays a reduced version of the orchestra part. If I should write anything for two pianos in the near future I shall be very glad to let you know about it". - Composed in 1924, "Rhapsody in Blue" was Gershwin's first major work and remains his most famous composition. The "Concerto in F" mentioned in the letter followed in 1925. - The charming portrait photograph depicts Gershwin seated at the piano. - On stationery with printed letterhead. Traces of folds. With three minor tears to the margins, minimally stained, and lightly stained due to former framing.
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Gheusi, Pierre-Barthélemy, French stage director, librettist, and journalist (1865-1943).
Autograph letter signed. Paris, 15. VIII. 1916.
8vo. ½ p. To a pensionnaire of the Opéra-Comique, concerning her role in the premiere of Alfred Bruneaux' opera "Les Quatre Journées". Although the unnamed role is "in itself insignificant", Gheusi had the recipient's name placed next to that of the soprano Marthe Chenal, who created a leading role, so that the public and professionals would immediately notice her: "Le rôle des 4 Journées est insignifiant en soi ; mais j'ai tenu à faire inscrire votre nom auprès de celui de Mlle Chenal, dans une grande création. Ainsi, vous serez tout de suite signalée aux musiciens et au public". - Pierre-Barthélemy Gheusi was director of the Opéra-Comique from 1914 to 1918 and again from 1932 to 1936. - On stationery with embossed letterhead of the Opéra-Comique. Traces of folds and minimal foxing.
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Harcourt, Eugène d', French conductor and composer (1859-1918).
Autograph letter signed. Paris, 14. II. 1908.
8vo. 3 pp. on bifolium. To the composer and conductor Maurice Galerne, concerning a performance of d'Harcourt's Symphonie Néo-classique in Marseille, probably led by Galerne, and choral works by Galerne. D'Harcourt thanks Galerne for the well-received performance and praises Galerne's piece "Patrie", also suggesting a minor change: "Je vous envoie la photographie que vous avez bien voulu me demander. J'espère que la bonne impression première que vous avez eue de la Néoclassique vous est restée. Les coupures que je reçois des journaux de Marseille me paraissent favorables. Pour ma part j'ai conservé excellents souvenirs de l'orchestre et du public et je suis tout disposé à retourner à Marseille, le cas échéant. Vos chœurs me semblent très bien, quelquefois un peu difficiles ou plutôt troublants d'intonation, mais ils doivent sonner magnifiquement. L'évocation de la Marseillaise dans 'Patrie' doit produire un rude effet ! Voulez-vous me permettre une petite critique : je n'aime pas dans le mot 'maintenant' l'accent sur te [...]". - On stationery with printed letterhead. Traces of folds and former mounting.
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Hirschmann, Henri, French composer (1872-1961).
Autograph letter signed. [Paris, 7 March 1907 (postmark)].
Oblong 12mo (99 x 60 mm). 1 p. With autograph envelope. To a theatre critic named Schneider at the conservative daily "Le Radical", thanking him for a positive review of Hirschmann's opéra comique "Les Hirondelles": "Vraiment, mon cher ami, vous avez été déjà aimable pour la critique des Hirondelles [...]". - "Les Hirondelles" had premiered on 20 February 1907 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté. Hirschmann's best-known work is the opéra comique "La Petite Bohème" (1905), based on Henri Murger's famous novel "Scènes de la vie Bohème". - With collector's mark in pencil (verso).
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Holmès, Augusta, French composer (1847-1903).
1 autograph letter signed and 1 autograph visiting card monogrammed. Paris, 19 Oct. 1902 and no year.
8vo and visiting card format. 1¾ pp. and 1 line. Beautiful letter to a friend at the Paris Opera concerning the audition of a young soprano named Gardis that had to be postponed due to a cold: "Mlle Gardis, le soprano [...] dont je vous ai parlé l'autre jour, et à qui vous m'avez bien voulu promettre de donner votre appui auprès de Mr Gaillard, vient d'attraper un gros rhume ! Ne voulant pas se présenter dans de mauvaises conditions, elle préfère attendre jusqu'au mois prochain pour son audition à l'Opéra. Elle s'était fait inscrire pour jeudi prochain, selon votre conseil. Je vous prie donc, mon cher Confrère, de vouloir bien, au mois de Novembre, vous souvenir de ma demande". - The visiting card was to thank an unnamed recipient: "Tous mes remerciements". - Although she was never admitted to the Paris Conservatory, Holmès received lessons from Henri Lambert, Hyacinthe Klosé, and César Franck, whom she considered her most important teacher. Like many female composers of the 19th century, Holmès initially published under a male pseudonym ("Hermann Zenta"). She was particularly successful as a composer of programme music and symphonic music. In 1889 she was commissioned to write the "Ode triomphale" for the Universal Exhibition, which required around 1200 musicians. Holmès first heard Richard Wagner's work at age 13 and was strongly influenced by the German composer ever since. - The letter on stationery with embossed monogram "B.D.". The visiting card with lithographed name and traces of former mounting.
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Joncières, Victorin, French composer and music critic (1839-1903).
Autograph music quotation signed. N. p. o. d., [5 Dec. 1890].
8vo. ½ p. 7 bars of Marpha's arioso "Ô nature, toi si douce" from the 3rd act of Joncières' most successful opera "Dimitri". - Based on Schiller's unfinished play "Demetrius", Joncières' opera had premiered on 5 May 1876 at the Gaîté-Lyrique in Paris. In 1890, the Opéra-Comique revived "Dimitri". - Dated according to a collector's note in pencil. With a small newspaper clipping concerning Joncières' final opera "Lancelot" pasted on the recto (ca. 66 x 19 mm) and a larger clipping of an obituary pasted on the verso. Left margin reinforced. Some browning.
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Koval, René, French singer and actor (1885-1936).
Autograph letter signed. N. p., 18. I. 1934.
8vo. 1 p. To the French playwright Pierre Wolff, explaining why he will not participate in a charitable cause: "J'applaudis à votre généreuse idée, mais tiens à vous expliquer la raison pour laquelle je n'y participe pas. Depuis de longs mois j'applique moi-même cette idée et distribue 1% et davantage de mes appointements à des camarades moins heureux. Ceci, pour que vous ne puissiez me taxer d'un affreux égoïsme !". - René Koval was among the leading French operetta performers of the interwar period. In 1934, he created Moyses Simons' "Toi, c'est moi" with the popular duet "Sous les palétuviers". - On stationery of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens. Minimally creased.
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Lacombe, Louis, French pianist and composer (1818-1884).
Autograph letter signed. N. p., 6. III. 1850.
8vo. 1 p. To a M. Leborne, possibly Aimé Leborne, kindly asking him to expedite his job of copying a symphony because he needs the scores for an upcoming concert: "Veuillez, je vous prie, presser la copie de la symphonie. Mon concert aura décidément lieu le 21 Mars où il me faudrait les parties d'orchestre pour le 12 ou le 15 au plus tard". The symphony in question is probably "Arva, ou les Hongrois" from 1850. - Aimé Leborne (1797-1866) was a professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory and librarian at the Paris Opera.
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Lacombe, Paul, French composer and pianist (1837-1927).
Autograph letter signed. Carcassonne, 21. III. 1911.
Oblong 12mo. 2 pp. To an unnamed recipient, agreeing to send him a manuscript of one of his compositions for a publication: "Je vous remercie infiniment d'avoir bien voulu penser à moi pour votre publication et je suis tant disposé à vous envoyer le manuscrit d'une de mes compositions [...]". - Well preserved.
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Lamoureux, Charles, French composer and violinist (1834-1899).
2 autograph letters signed. Paris, 17 Sept. 1896 and 31 Dec. 1898.
8vo. Together 3 pp. The letter from 1896 to the musicologist Jacques-Gabriel Prod'homme, thanking him for a copy of his book on Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" and for a favourable article on Lamoureux: "Je viens vous remercie de m'avoir envoyé votre très intéressant et remarquable volume sur 'La Damnation de Faust' de Berlioz et la notice que vous avez publiée sur moi dans l'Enclos du mois de Juillet 1895. Je tiens à vous dire que je suis très sensible à votre gracieuse pensée et profondément touché de votre bienveillance". - The second letter to the music publisher Carl Enoch, concerning the upcoming stage premiere of Emmanuel Chabrier's unfinished last opera Briséïs. Lamoureux had conducted the first concert staging of the piece in 1897 and expresses his joy that it will soon be staged at the opera, mentioning the flutist Paul Taffanel and the opera director Pedro Gailhard as being involved in the project. He also mentions that Chabrier's widow "essentially thinks that it is she who directs the piece", as she is "the interpreter of the feelings of her poor husband". Briséïs premiered on 8 May 1899 at the Paris Opera, a few months later than Lamoureux had expected. The interesting letter in full: "J'apprends avec plaisir par plusieurs personnes, que les études de Briséïs à l'opéra sont commencées, et que l'on espère passer en Janvier. Je voudrais en causer avec vous. Malheureusement je suis encore cloué dans mon lit et dans l'impossibilité de sortir. Pouvez-vous me dire si Taffanel suit les répétitions au piano ? Vous savez que Mme Chabrier tient essentiellement à ce que ce soit lui qui dirige l'ouvrage. Elle est, en cela, l'interprète des sentiments de son pauvre mari. Mr Bertrand doit se souvenir, du reste, que je lui dit lorsque j'ai eu l'occasion de le voir avec vous, et Mr Gailhard, lui-même, ne doit pas avoir oublié que cela a été convenu dans les entrevues que nous avons eues avec lui dans le cabinet directorial de l'Opéra [...]". - Minor foxing. The letter from 1898 with traces of former mounting.
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Lazzari, Sylvio, French composer (1857-1944).
Autograph letter signed. N. p. o. d.
12mo. 1 p. Charming letter to a close friend named Léo, thanking him for a box in the theatre for Lazzari's visiting parents. While Lazzari agrees to introduce Léo to his parents, he cautions that they are overwhelmed by Paris and that their French is "even more basic" than Lazzari's: "Merci mille fois, j'accepte avec grand plaisir ta loge pour lundi soir. Quant à mes parents, je vous les présenterais bien, mais je crois que ce n'est guère intéressant pour vous. Mon cher, ce qu'ils sont épatés de Paris, et coiffés de leur bru [?] - c'est amusant à voir. Et si tu entendais leur français, c'est encore plus base que le mien. Enfin je suis content de les avoir ici et content de leur pouvoir offrir ta loge". - Born in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Lazzari came to Paris in 1882 to study at the Conservatory under Ernest Guiraud and César Franck. Encouraged by Ernest Chausson and Franck, Lazzari settled in France permanently and obtained French citizenship in 1896. He held several official positions, including president of the Wagner Society (from 1894) and choirmaster at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. - Minor browning. With collector's notes in pencil.
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Leroux, Xavier, French composer (1863-1919).
Autograph letter signed. N. p. o. d.
8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. Beautiful letter to an unnamed friend with an apology and the suggestion of a meeting: "Comment m'excuser auprès de vous ! J'ai tant de besogne en ce moment que je mérite votre indulgence ! Pouvez-vous passer 64 Rue Cortambert demain Vendredi [...]". - With collector's notes in pencil.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). Rom, 21. VI. 1867.
2 SS. auf Doppelblatt. Kl.-8vo. An seinen Verleger Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Siegel (1819-69) zur Rücksendung des "unterzeichneten Verlagsscheins" für seine "Rhapsodie espagnole": "Sobald sich dafür Zeit findet will ich gerne Ihrem Wunsche betreffs eines gangbaren Clavierstücks nachzukommen versuchen [...] PS Ein paar Exemplare der Rhapsodie espagnole bitte ich Sie an den Herrn Verleger Kahnt (in Leipzig) zu übergeben, der mir dieselben nach Weimar spediren wird, wo ich Anfangs August einzutreffen beabsichtige". - Papierbedingt etwas gebräunt, sonst tadellos erhalten.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). Nürnberg, 15. XI. 1882.
2 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Wohl an den Musikwissenschaftler und Musikschriftsteller Ludwig Nohl, der bei Reclam mehrere Musikerbiographien veröffentlicht hatte: "Von Neuem beweisen Sie ihre stätige, freundschaftliche Wirksamkeit durch die populäre Liszt-Biographie. Herzlichen Dank dafür; gerne möchte ich Ihnen öfters meine Erkenntlichkeit bezeigen. Frau Baronin Therese von Helldorf (aus Weimar) bringt mehrere Monate in Heidelberg zu, und ist seit Jahren mit dem hochberühmten Kuno Fischer befreundet. Wenn Sie die sehr liebenswürdige Frau noch nicht kennen überbringen Sie Ihr die einliegenden Zeilen, nebst einem gebundenen Exemplar Nohl, Wagner und Liszt's populäre Biographie [...] Nächsten Sonntag bin ich bei Wagners in Venedig, und verbleibe dort bis Neujahr; dann kehre ich wieder für drei Monate nach Budapest zurück". - Stellenweise gering knittrig und fleckig, sonst ausgezeichnet erhalten.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). Weimar, 11. IV. 1854.
4 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. Wohl an den Musikschriftsteller und -verleger Bartholf Senff über die Illustrationen zu seinem Album "Années de pèlerinage" und über die Pianistin Wilhelmine Clauss (später Clauss-Szarvady): "Es thut mir sehr leid Sie nochmals mit der Krätzmerschen Titel Angelegenheit zu behelligen. Da die Herrn Schott in Mainz die Herausgabe meiner 'Années d Pelerinage' übernommen ersuchte ich dieselben, die Titel bei Krätzschmer zu bestellen. Schotts gingen freundlich auf meinen Vorschlag ein - Krätzschmer aber schreibt mir heute daß er sich nicht entschließen könne Ihnen die Lithographierung seiner Zeichnungen zu überlaßen. Erlauben Sie mir also Sie zu ersuchen, Krätzschmer zu persuadiren die Anfertigung der Titel noch zu übernehmen. Sollte jedoch Ihre Beredsamkeit nicht daß mir erwünschte Resultat herbeiführen so sind Sie wohl so freundlich und übergeben Krätzschmer die einliegenden 25 Thaler [...] Die grauen Haare führen mich als Contrast zu sehr schönen blonden, welche einer ganz liebenswürdigen und vorzüglichen Persönlichkeit in der leidigen Kunstwelt angehörig sind. Fräulein Clauß hat mir bei Ihrem neulichen Besuch, durch Ihr ganz bedeutsam emporwachsendes Talent eine wirkliche Freude bereitet, worüber ich Ihnen auch meinen Dank sage, da ich vermuthe, daß Sie, an der Weymarer Reise, nicht unbetheiligt sind. Ganz aufrichtig gesprochen. Warum begleiten Sie Fräulein Clauß nicht nach Rußland? Und noch kürzer und viel besser, warum tauscht Fräulein Clauß nicht Ihren monosyllabischen Nahmen (und diese Gattung von Nahmen ist nicht die schlechteste) gegen einen andren monosyllaben, mit S- angefangen und ff (fortissimo) zu beenden? [...] Im Laufe dieses Monathes komme ich nach Leipzig, wenn mir David die besprochene Gewandhaus Probe für ein paar meiner symphonischen Dichtungen gewähren kann worüber ich Ihnen nächstens schreiben werde. Vieuxtemps spielt hier nächsten Sonntag in einem Capellen Conzert wo sich auch Mme Pohl produzirt - Götze war unwohl so daß die angezeigte Lohengrin Vorstellung auf nächsten Montag verschoben ist [...]". - Der erste Jahrgang von Liszts "Années de pèlerinage" sollte tatsächlich im Jahr darauf bei Schott in Mainz erscheinen. "Schotts Edition von 1855 war verhältnismäßig luxuriös ausgestaltet, denn jedes Stück trug auf dem Titelblatt eine Lithographie von Robert Kretschmer, damals Zeichner der Leipziger Illustrirten Zeitung" (Calella, S. 211). Die Sammlung stellt eine Umarbeitung jenes "Album d'un voyageur" dar, das Liszt zwischen 1836 und 1842 bei verschiedenen europäischen Verlegern in drei Teilen veröffentlich hatte. - Wilhelmine Clauss war Liszt im Jahre 1850 erstmals begegnet, wo sie am Leipziger Gewandhaus konzertierte. Von ihrem Spiel ergriffen, wurde Liszt ihr Förderer und widmete ihr auch zwei Werke, die sie regelmäßig in ihren Konzerten spielte. Johanna Pohl (1824-70) war in Weimar Harfenistin der Großherzoglichen Hofkapelle und auf ihrem Instrument eine berühmte Virtuosin. Der unpässliche Götze war Franz Götze, der seit 1831 Mitglied der Weimarer Hofkapelle gewesen war und von 1836 bis 1852 als erster Tenorist an der dortigen Bühne wirkte. - Mit einer zeitgenössischen Notiz in rotem Farbstift von Senff, der festhält, dass die erwähnten 25 Taler "auf Liszt's Conto notirt" sind, und einer kleinen von späterer Hand stammenden Notiz zu Senff. Stellenweise leicht gelblich, insgesamt jedoch tadellos erhalten. Michele Calella, Musik und imaginative Geographie: Franz Liszts Années de pèlerinage und die kulturelle Konstruktion der Schweiz. In: Die Musikforschung. 65.3 (2012), SS. 211-230.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("F. Liszt"). Weimar, 7. IV. 1852.
2 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An einen namentlich nicht genannten "verehrten Freund" mit der Bitte, ihm zwei Plätze für die in zwei Tagen angesetzte Aufführung der "Passions Musik" zu besorgen - "(nicht sehr en vue - weil ich gerne die Partitur ungenirt nachlesen möchte) [...] Ich werde mit dem 9 Uhr Zug Morgens von hier abgehen - folglich gegen halb 3 Uhr in Leipzig ankommen - Da die Frau Fürstin ebenfalls die Passions Musik hören will, so werden Sie mich verpflichten wenn Sie Ihren Nachbarn Redslob von Ihrer Ankunft sogleich preveniren, um daß ein convenables Zimmer in Bereitschaft gehalten wird. À revoir - wenn auch nur ein paar Stunden - denn Sonnabend früh 10 Uhr muss ich wieder hier sein - wir haben an diesem Tag zwei Haupt Proben - Morgens von Napoleon - und Nachmittags von dem Lustigen Rath - und obendrein eine kirchliche Feierlichkeit in der Hofkapelle […]". - Der erwähnte Redslob war der Hotelier Wilhelm Redslob, der das Leipziger Hôtel de Bavière 1838 erworben hatte und bis zu seinem Tod 1855 führte. - Stärkere Faltspuren und dort auch etwas gelblich, sonst gut erhalten.
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Liszt, Franz, Komponist (1811-1886).
Eigenh. Brief mit U. ("Liszt"). München, 19. X. 1867.
1 S. 8vo. An eines der Kinder von Friedrich von Bodenstedt und dessen Frau Mathilde, geb. Osterwald: "An Papa und Maman bitte ich Sie mich ergebenst zu empfehlen, und meinen aufrichtigen Dank wiederholt zu melden, für die freundschaftliche Gewogenheit die mir Herr v[. Bodenstedt erwiesen. 'Natürlich' soll es nicht lange dauern ohne dass ich wieder komme. Die scharfsinnige Replik an den intrusen Shakespeare Übersetzer hat mich reichlich ergötzt und belehrt [...]". - Friedrich von Bodenstedt war 1867 nicht zuletzt wegen seiner vielgerühmten Shakespeare-Studien Intendant des Hoftheaters in Meiningen geworden. Liszt hatte dort im selben Jahr mit der Meininger Hofkapelle das Fest des Allgemeinen deutschen Musikvereins ausgerichtet, bei dem neue Werke von ihm selbst sowie von Bülow, Damrosch, Lassen, Draeseke und Volkmann zur Aufführung gekommen waren. - Stärker fleckig und gebräunt und mit Spuren alter Montage.
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