A clipped autograph signature of the great composer, together with a later photograph postcard. Mounting remnants on the verso and light toning; overall in fine condition. Signature 3 x 1.5 inches (7.8 x 3.8 cm); postcard 3.5 x 5.5 inches (8.6 x 13.6 cm).
Vintage Viennese postcard caricature of the composer and conductor, ca. 1910, shown in a highly amusing pose as Salome, bearing his own (Prophet!) head on a platter! Adding to the remarkable imagery, the platter drips not blood but a series of musical notes. Some surface creases, else fine. 8.5 x 13.5 cm.
44. Stravinsky, Igor. (1882–1971). Signed Letter Agreeing to Conduct at the Hollywood Bowl & The Signed Contract for the Performance
Typed letter signed from the great composer to Ray Smith, manager of the Hollywood Bowl Association, agreeing to conduct the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra on August 12, 1952. Together with the final page of the contract for the engagement, signed by both Stravinsky and Smith, and retained copies of the term sheets for the engagement. Dated April 19, 1952. Stravinsky confirms his engagement as conductor "on Tuesday evening August 12, 1952, at a fee of $1,500 -- with two rehearsals Monday and Tuesday of that week of 2 1/2 hours each," and goes on to mention that his son, Soulima Stravinsky, will also be able to appear [as piano soloist] in the concert. Folding creases. Read More...
Autograph musical quotation from one of the important composer's most beloved works, The Firebird, signed and inscribed by Stravinsky and dated Hollywood, January 1957. He has neatly penned one measure (m. 9) from the bassoon part of the evocative, quiet introduction to the ballet on a small piece of manuscript paper, and inscribed it to the collector Lionel Aucoin (which could easily be matted out of view). The title "The FireBird" is typed at the head. A bold quotation and signature. 3.75 x 8.75 inches (9.3 x 22.3 cm.) Read More...
Original carte de visite photograph of the great opera composer, shown standing in a three-quarter-length portrait. Photographed by Reutlinger of Paris at the Boulevard Montmartre 21 (after 1851). Some light speckling to the image and one small water stain at the upper right; mounting remnants to verso; overall in very good condition. 2.5 x 4 inches (6.3 x 10.5 cm).
Clipped signature, framed with a vintage carte-de-visite photograph, the clipped sheet approximately 1 1/4 x 2 inches (3.5 x 5.5 cm). Backlabel of Charles Hamilton Autographs, the front of the CDV mounted, with heavy staining. Signature in fine condition, unexamined out of frame.
Superb signed photograph of the great Italian composer who takes a place among the most influential figures in the history of opera and whose works, including such classics as Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Aïda, are a cornerstone of the genre. Original cabinet photograph by Pagliano e Ricordi (Milano), signed and inscribed in ink to fellow composer Leone Sinigaglia "Al Sr. Leonino Sinigaglia...G. Verdi / Milano 9 Feb 1887." Read More...
Original printed ticket to Carl Maria von Weber's final concert appearance, numbered and signed by the composer. The concert, given at the Argyll Rooms, Regent St., London on May 26, 1826, included the overture to his final opera, Oberon, a song written for the occasion called "From Chindara's warbling fount I come," sung by soprano Catherine Stephens, and his Jubel-Cantate in an English version. After one other public appearance on May 30, Weber died on June 4, 1826. The ticket has been numbered 85 at the lower left and signed by Weber at the lower right. Some staining to the ticket which is laid down to a rigid card together with an albumen photograph of a portrait of the composer (photograph torn in several places). Clipped signatures of contemporary singers and conductors (including Charles Halle, John Sims Reeves, Charles Santley, Erminia Rudersdorf etc.) are affixed to the verso of the sheet. The ticket measuring 10.8 x 7.5 cm; sheet overall 22.5 x 16.5 cm. Read More...
Striking original 1982 publicity photograph of the great British composer as an older man, listening to a choirboy singing a solo in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Original press caption on the verso advertises a film by Tony Palmer profiling the composer, to be aired by London Weekend Television. 10 x 8 inches.
An autograph Christmas card from the jazz legend, dating from ca. 1982, to his friend Jim Butler. The card, with a Santa Claus on the front, is briefly inscribed to Butler inside and signed "Love, Chet." In very fine condition. 4 x 5.5 inches (9.8 x 14.2 cm). Read More...
52.
[Holiday Gifts]
Baker, Josephine. (1906–1975). Original Ca. 1926 Folies-Bergère Postcard Photograph with Printed Christmas Message
Vintage ca. 1926 postcard photograph of the legendary entertainer shown smiling and wearing numerous beaded necklaces and looking mischievously off to the left, with a printed facsimile holiday inscription "Bon Noel / Josephine Baker," name given at the foot in type and advertised as "Des Folies-Bergère." Mounted to rigid backing, some glue staining around the edges, else fine. 9 x 14 cm. Read More...
London: Boosey & Hawkes. 1948. First. Vocal score. 8vo. 33pp. [PN] 16343. Bound in brown cloth boards, scattered foxing, overall fine. Signed in ink on the title page by Britten and Pears. Read More...
Signed score to Carter's art song "Dust of Snow," a setting of a poem by Robert Frost, signed and inscribed by Carter on the cover to the New York book collector and patron of American poetry, Eugene Delafield, and signed again above his printed name on the first page of music. The short song is illustrative of Carter's early style (1942), with a Copland-esque tonality and simple rhythms. 3 pp. 9 x 12 inches (22.8 x 30.3 cm). Read More...
A remarkable and intriguing relic from the eminent French author, born Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, better known by the masculine pen name she adopted early in her career. An early feminist, she also earned a footnote in musical history as the longtime romantic companion of pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin. Read More...
56.
[Holiday Gifts]
[Cigar Box Label]. Royal Beauty Ysidora on Original Antique Cigar Box Label
Vintage cigar box label image, illustrating an attractive bust portrait of a woman wearing a tiara and a necklace, with the brand name Ysidora in bold script. Vivid chromolithograph printed in slight relief. Slight wear at the edges; otherwise in very fine condition. 25.4 x 16.6 cm.
57.
[Holiday Gifts]
DiMaggio, Joe. (1914 - 1999). Jim Beam 100th Anniversary of Baseball Decorative 1969 Decanter - FROM THE COLLECTION OF JOE DIMAGGIO
Elaborately decorated decanter celebrating the 100th Anniversary of baseball, accompanied by a handwritten note dated April 5th, 2013 from June DiMaggio describing its history, namely that the bottle belonged to her uncle and that he drank the contents! From the estate of June DiMaggio, niece of baseball star Joe DiMaggio and close friend of Marilyn Monroe.
58.
[Holiday Gifts]
[Drum]. Afghan-Pakistani Drum made of Artillery Shell
Visually striking drum composed of Afghan-Pakistani goatskin, plaster, vegetable dye, wire and sling fitted around a WWII artillery shell. 17.5"h. Scattered cracks, wear and losses. Deaccessioned from the Northern California Art Museum, this is an extraordinary musical relic, a sort of metaphor given physical form.
Unusual folding Christmas card from 1964 depicting a nativity scene, 6.5 x 9.5, signed on the side panel in blue ballpoint by his wife, “From Valerie” and by himself, “and T. S. Eliot.” Card was designed by Miche Wynants for Faber and Faber. Some creasing to the rear panel, otherwise fine condition. A most unusual and visually striking item from the eminent American-born British writer, winner of the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature.
60.
[Holiday Gifts]
[Eskimo / Inuit]. A Pair of Eskimo Wood Snow Goggles
A Pair of Eskimo Wood Snow Goggles, i-gauk, probably Norton Sound Area, of hollowed convex form, triangular in section, with two wide perforated slits across the center for sight, slightly pinched above the nose and expanding at the corners, a wedge-shaped cut at the lower back for the nose bridge, a pair of holes at each side for the lacing of the attachment cords, small portion of one cord (seashore grass?) remaining. Length 5.5 in. (13.5 cm.), ca. 1900. Read More...