Description

19 Rare Mid 19th C. Opera Librettos & Music. Unique Bound Collection 19 Rare Mid 19th C. Opera Librettos & Music. Unique Bound Collection A Custom Bound Volume with a Collection of Nineteen Rare Mid-Ninenteenth Century American Editions of Opera Librettos and Operatic Music Selections 1850s – 1860s 1. Der Freischutz by Weber. Libretto in Italian with English translation. Ditson, 1860. 25 pages + 7 pages of advts. 2. Romeo e Giulietta by Gounod. N.Y. Academy of Music. 21 pages + 6 pages of music. Pencil dated 1884. 3. La Stella del Norte by Meyerbeer. N.Y. John Darcie, 1856. Italian adaptation from original French. 36 page libretto + 6 pages of Musical Gems. 4. The Carnival of Venice or Precaution. Music by Enrico Petrella. N.Y. Academy of Music. 33 page Libretto + 6 pages of music. 5. Fra Diavolo by Auber. N.Y. Academy of Music, 1863. 33 page libretto + 6 pages of music selections 6. L’Africaine by Meyerbeer. N.Y. Academy of Music, undated but probably 1860. 27 page libretto + 4 pages of music. 7. Les Noces de Jeannettes. Music by Victor Masse. N. Y. , Palmer & Co. 1861. 16 page libretto + 4 pages of music. 8. Lurline. Music by William Vincent Fitzball. N.Y., William Hale & Son. 1868. 31 page libretto. 9. William Tell by Rossini. N.Y., .Academy of Music. 25 page libretto + 6 pages of music. 10. The Desert Flower. Music by Vincent Wallace. N.Y. Wm. Hale & Son, 1867. 19 page libretto + advts. 11. The Prophet by Meyerbeer. N.Y. Academy of Music, 38 page libretto with music. 12. Don Pasquale by Donizzetti, N.Y. Academy of Music, 1863. 21 page libretto. 13. I Due Foscari by Verdi. N.Y. Academy of Music. 15 page libretto. 14. Othello by Rossini. New York Academy of Music. 24 page libretto. 15. Belisario by Donizetti. N.Y. Academy of Music. 17 page libretto + 6 pages music selections. 16. Zampa by Herold. N.Y. Academy of Music. 33 page libretto + 6 pages music selections. 17. Crispino de la Comare by Luigi and Federico Ricci. N.Y. Academy of Music. 26 page libretto + 6 pages music selections. 18. Don Sebastian by Donizetti. N.Y. Academy of Music, 1864. 24 page libretto + 4 pages music selections. 19. Die Stumme von Portici by Masaniello. N.Y. Waddle, Corbyn, 1856. 11 page libretto. Bound at the beginning of the volume is the Table of Contents handwritten on two leaves. Attached to the front pastedown is a contemporary newspaper article with a review of the career of the operatic impresario, Max Strakosch. The 18 opera librettos, to most of which are added selections of music, are Custom bound into a single hardcover octavo volume with leather spine and corners. Most of the librettos are dated in the 1850s and 1860s and we can assume the undated ones are of the same era. Occasional annotations on the librettos and in the manuscript Table of Contents indicate that the person who collected them and had them bound, attended the perfomances in the 1860s, 1870s and early 1880s. It is highly probable that the owner acquired the librettos for performances he or she attended at the Academy of Music on 14th Street near Union Square in New York City. CONDITION: Very Good+. (Covers have shelfwear, some soil and spotting. One libretto has folded pages (required to fit within the boards) and one of its leaves is creased and damaged at the fore margin. There are a few other pages with small chips or short closed tear at the margin.) Check our other auctions and store listings for additional unusual items Listing and template services provided by inkFrog