ARNE (THOMAS) The Masque of Alfred. Compos'd by Mr: Arne
219•
EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURY MUSIC
ARNE (THOMAS)
The Masque of Alfred. Compos'd by Mr: Arne, full score, issue with continuous pagination (1-86), engraved throughout, comprising title, table of songs and 84 pages of music (including 'Rule Britannia' on pages 84-86), first leaf repaired with tape on blank verso, lacking one leaf (pages 13-14), early ownership signature of Jane Shepherd on title, bookplate of W.H. Cummings (with signature of Bernard Herrmann, 1939) and pencil markings in score, nineteenth century half calf, worn at corners [RISM A 1578; Smith and Humphries 67], 4to, J. Walsh, [c.1757]
Estimate:
£400 - 600
US$ 600 - 910
€470 - 700

Footnotes

  • SCARCE EARLY (SECOND OR THIRD) PRINTING OF THOMAS ARNE'S 'RULE BRITANNIA', from the "splendid musical library" (Grove) of the musician, tenor and scholar W.H. Cummings (1831-1915). The Masque of Alfred was first performed on 1 August 1740 at Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire, for the Prince and Princess of Wales, with lyrics by David Mallet and James Thompson, set to music by Arne. Although he first published his score of Rule Britannia in about 1745 (as an "added... celebratory ode" in The Judgement of Paris), the two Walsh editions seem constitute its first appearance in the work for which it was intended.

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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