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Sothebys: Musical Manuscripts

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Musical Manuscripts	Total Sales (GBP)	593,250.00
Auction Date	May 22, 2018 - May 22, 2018	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	408,600.00
Sale Number	#L18402	High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	570,700.00
Total Lots	74
Sold Lots	38.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	606,400.00
% of Lots Sold	51.35%	High Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	836,200.00
Unsold Lots	36	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	70.95%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
87	Lute	MID-SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT OF GERMAN LUTE TABLATURE, COMPRISING 35 PIECES		GBP 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	GBP 106,250.00
113	Strauss, Richard	FINE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF TWO SONGS FOR SOPRANO AND ORCHESTRA, "DAS ROSENBAND" AND "LIEBESHYMNUS"	1897	GBP 70,000.00 - 90,000.00	GBP 81,250.00
62	Gershwin, George	AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF 'A WOMAN IS A SOMETIME THING' FROM THE OPERA "PORGY AND BESS", ACT ONE, SCENE ONE	early 1934]	GBP 60,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 75,000.00
88	Mahler, Gustav	AUTOGRAPH WORKING MANUSCRIPT OF PART OF SYMPHONY NO.4, A HITHERTO UNKNOWN LEAF FROM THE COMPOSITION DRAFT	1899	GBP 60,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 68,750.00
94	Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix	AUTOGRAPH WORKING MANUSCRIPT OF THE FINAL RECITATIVE AND CHORUS OF THE ORATORIO "PAULUS" ("ST PAUL"), OP.36	1836	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 43,750.00
101	Porter, Cole	AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF THE SONG "GLIDE, GLIDER, GLIDE",		GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 30,000.00
90	Mahler, Gustav	FINE AUTOGRAPH MUSICAL QUOTATION FROM THE START OF SYMPHONY NO.5, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED	1905	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 20,000.00
63	Gershwin, George	THE THEATRE GUILD PRESENTS PORGY AND BESS, [PRINTED VOCAL SCORE],	[1935]	GBP 15,000.00 - 25,000.00	GBP 17,500.00
47	Bach, Johann Sebastian	THE CORRECTED PROOF OF THE EIGHT ENGRAVED CHORAL PARTS FOR THE "ST MATTHEW PASSION" BWV 244,	C.1831]	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 12,500.00
67	Godowsky, Leopold	IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS		GBP 12,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 12,500.00
65	Gershwin, George	PHOTOGRAPH OF GERSHWIN AT THE PIANO, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED WITH A MUSICAL QUOTATION FROM "RHAPSODY IN BLUE",	1929	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 11,250.00
118	Verdi, Giuseppe	AUTOGRAPH LETTER ABOUT THE CELEBRATED FAILURE OF "LA TRAVIATA" AT ITS PREMIERE IN VENICE, SIGNED ("GVERDI")	1853,	GBP 3,000.00 - 4,000.00	GBP 10,625.00
69	Korngold, Erich Wolfgang	AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF "PASSOVER PSALM" OP.30	1941	GBP 8,000.00 - 10,000.00	GBP 9,375.00
114	Strauss, Richard	FINE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF THE FINAL SCENE OF THE OPERA "DIE SCHWEIGSAME FRAU", SIGNED ("RICHARDSTRAUSS")	[c.1938-1940]	GBP 8,000.00 - 10,000.00	GBP 8,750.00
49	Brahms, Johannes	UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH LETTER ABOUT "SCHICKSALSLIED" ["SONG OF DESTINY"], SIGNED ("J BRAHMS"), INCLUDING TWO MUSICAL QUOTATIONS FROM THE WORK, [1871]	1871	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 8,125.00
93	Medtner, Nikolai	WORKING MANUSCRIPT BY NIKOLAI AND ANNA MEDTNER OF THE POSTHUMOUSLY PUBLISHED PIANO QUINTET IN C MAJOR	(c.1955)	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 7,500.00
89	Mahler, Gustav	AUTOGRAPH MUSICAL QUOTATION FROM THE SECOND SYMPHONY ("RESURRECTION"), SIGNED (GUSTAV MAHLER"), 1897	1897	GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00	GBP 5,750.00
120	Wagner, Richard	TWO FIRST EDITIONS BOUND BY WAGNER FOR HIS BELOVED, MATHILDE WESENDONCK	1878	GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00	GBP 5,625.00
55	Debussy, Claude	AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("CLAUDE DEBUSSY"), TO THE CONDUCTOR AND COMPOSER ANDRÉ CAPLET	1909	GBP 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	GBP 5,250.00
103	Puccini, Giacomo	THREE AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED ("G.PUCCINI"), TOGETHER WITH ONE BY ELVIRA PUCCINI, TO SYBIL SELIGMAN	1907	GBP 1,800.00 - 2,200.00	GBP 5,250.00
104	Puccini, Giacomo	FIVE AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, ONE ON A POSTCARD PORTRAIT OF THE COMPOSER, SIGNED ("G.PUCCINI") TO SYBIL SELIGMAN,	1911	GBP 2,500.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 4,750.00
66	Gershwin, George--Sir Richard Rodney Bennett	AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS BY BENNETT OF FIVE "GERSHWIN SONGS", IN UNPUBLISHED ARRANGEMENTS FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE	1991	GBP 4,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 4,500.00
117	Verdi, Giuseppe	UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("G.VERDI"), ABOUT STAGING THE OPERA "I LOMBARDI" AND ABOUT WRITING OPERAS FOR PARIS	1844,	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 4,500.00
86	Lully, Jean-Baptiste	MANUSCRIPT FULL SCORE OF THE OPERA "CADMUS ET HÉRMIONE", WITH A PRINTED TITLE PAGE,	C.1700	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 4,375.00
102	Puccini, Giacomo	FOUR AUTOGRAPH LETTERS AND A SHORT NOTE SIGNED ("GP" OR PUCCINI") TO SYBIL SELIGMAN,	1906 -1907	GBP 2,500.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 3,750.00

Sotheby’s
Year in Review

Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD

Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD

Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD

Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP

Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD

Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
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