L. v. Beethoven. First edition of the "Hammerklavier" Sonata, op.106, 1819

BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN

Grande Sonate pour le Piano-Forte composée et dedié à Son Altesse Imperiale Monseigneur l'Archiduc Rudolphe d'Autriche, op.106, Vienna: Artaria et Compag:, [1819]

FIRST EDITION, French title-page, 59 pages (c.32.5 x 25cm), 4to, engraved title ("A. Müller Sc.") and music, plate no.2588, uncorrected issue, unpriced on title, without the later-inserted catalogue, blue label of August Cranz (Hamburg) at foot of title, nineteenth-century marbled card wrappers, manuscript labels to cover and spine (annotated [by Ernst Rudorff]: "(Lichtenstein'scher Nachlass)"), bookseller's label removed from title

The first edition of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata op.106 in B-flat major, one of the towering peaks of the pianist's repertoire. This first issue is uncommon at auction: the only copy we have sold in recent years was in 2011. Pages 25 and 27 in the third movement are in their original uncorrected state.

LITERATURE:

Hoboken 435; Beethoven-Werk-Verzeichnis (2014), p.666 (III/1); cf. the copies Beethoven-Haus Bonn, C 106/1 and BL h.383.ss

PROVENANCE:

Ernst Rudorff (1840-1916), inherited from the collection of Marie Hoffmeister, née Lichtenstein (1817-1890).