{"product_id":"21302-melies-georges-signed-document-receiving-royalties-from-new-york-film-sales-1913","title":"Méliès, Georges. (1861–1938) Signed Document receiving Royalties from New York Film Sales, 1913","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003eRare signed document from the French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. DS in French, signed “G. Melies,” one page, 8.5 x 10.75, February 4, 1913. On elaborated printed  advertising \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cfont class=\"\" style=\"\" size=\"\" face=\"\" color=\"\"\u003eletterhead: \"Manufacture de films pour cinématographes. G. Méliès fabricant b[réve]té 16 passage de l'Opéra Paris IXe. Spécialités de vues à transformations, trucs, fééries, apothéoses, scènes artistiques, scènes fantastiques, sujets comiques, scènes de guerre, actualités, fantaisies, illusions etc.\" (“Manufacture of Cinematic Films. \u003c\/font\u003eG. Méliès ...Specialties from views to transformations, magic tricks, apotheoses, artistic scenes, fantastic scenes, comic subjects, war scenes, news, fantasies, illusions etc.\"). The document confirms receipt “from Mr. G. Melies Manufacturing \u0026amp; Co. from New York the amount of four hundred and 61 francs\" and includes the separate sheet carbon statement listing films produced by the company and the corresponding royalties due. Expected document wear, scattered creases, and some tears to filing holes along the left edge, otherwise fine condition. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\u003cbr style=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003eAmong the silent shorts listed on the royalty statement are 41 prints of \"A Ballad of the South Seas,\" 11 prints of \"A Cowboy's Proposal\" and 1 print of \"The Lesson.\" Georges Melies ran his film production company in Paris while his older brother managed the American branch in New York; this document evidently concerns a transaction between the two.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr style=\"\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cfont class=\"goog-text-highlight\" style=\"\" size=\"\" face=\"\" color=\"\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\u003cfont class=\"goog-text-highlight\" style=\"\" size=\"\" face=\"\" color=\"\"\u003e\u003cbr style=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003eAt once the cinema's first true artist and the most prolific technical innovator of the early years, Georges Méliès was a pioneer in recognizing the possibilities of the medium for narrative and spectacle. He created the basic vocabulary of special effects, and built the first studio of glass-house form, the prototype of European studios of the silent era. The success of his films contributed to the development of an international market in films and did much to secure the ascendancy of French cinema in the pre-1914 years. Outside this historical contribution, Méliès's films are the earliest to survive as a total, coherent artistic creation with its own validity and personality. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003eA genuine virtuoso who produced and directed his own films while also devising the narratives; designing the sets, costumes and props; and frequently performing the leading parts, he \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003ebuilt the first movie studio in 1896 near Paris and from it cascaded a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003estaggering variety of 500 films  - \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003efantastic magic films, dream films, historical reconstructions, imaginary journeys, melodramas, slapstick comedies -- even erotic films.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46093777338527,"sku":"21302","price":4000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Melies_2C_Georges_Signed_Document_receiving_Royalties_from_NY_Film_Sales_21302a.jpg?v=1722190285","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/21302-melies-georges-signed-document-receiving-royalties-from-new-york-film-sales-1913","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}