Oblong 4to (c.24.5 x 33cms). Engraved throughout. [PN] 1571. List of subscribers (3 pages), index on verso, 190 pp. Publisher’s stamp to title, performance markings in pencil, ownership inscription neatly cut from top outer corner of the title affecting the engraved surface, small margin tears to one page, otherwise in very crisp and fine condition throughout. Quarter vellum, brown marbled boards. First edition of the vocal score, second issue (plate number corrected on p.157). The only differences from the first issue are the two corrected plate numbers and two new ones added at the foot of pages 42 and 176. This copy contains the index, as called for by Fuld for the first edition. Fuld, p.171; RISM B 436; cf Hoboken 27.

The first edition of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, one of his supreme masterpieces, was published in the wake of the famous performance by Mendelssohn on 11 March 1829, the most important event in the Bach revival of the nineteenth century. The arrangement for the vocal score was made by Mendelssohn's friend A.B. Marx.