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Handel, George Frederick
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Description
Acis and Galatea a Mask As it was Originally Compos’d. London: Printed for I. Walsh, [1743]
Folio (12 ¾ x 9 ¼ in.; 324 x 235 mm.). Engraved title page and score; outer margin of page 3 mended without loss, 19th-century ownership entry struck through in upper margin of title. Contemporary marbled boards, gold-stamped leather title label on upper cover; rebacked and corners renewed in calf.
First edition of the complete work. The most popular of Handel’s works in his own day and performed more often than any other prior to 1759. The libretto is by John Gay with contributions by Alexander Pope and John Hughes. This is the only one of Handel’s oratorios and operas, other than Alexander’s Feast, to be published complete, with all recitatives, during his lifetime.
RISM H380; Smith, Handel, p. 82, no. 6
[With his:]
The most Celebrated Songs in the Oratorio call’d Deborah No. 544. London: I. Walsh [ca. 1735]
Folio (12 ¾ x 9 in.; 324 x 228 mm.). Engraved title page and score. Three-quarter calf and marbled boards.
First edition. Deborah, set to a text by Samuel Humphreys (after Judges V), was first performed on 17 March 1733 at the King’s Theatre, London, under the composer’s direction. This first publication consists of six songs and a duet. Three more numbers were published circa 1736, but the whole score did not appear until circa 1751.
RISM H518; Smith, p. 101, no. 1
[With his:]
The Most Celebrated Songs in the Oratorio call’d Queen Esther. London: I. Walsh, [ca. 1732]
Folio (14 5/8 x 8 7/8 in.; 372 x 225 mm.). Engraved title page and score; mended tears in fore-edge and lower outer corner of title, some marginal soiling and scattered stains. Marbled boards, printed title label on upper cover.
First edition. In 1732 Handel revived an earlier oratorio, Esther, with a libretto thought to be by Alexander Pope and John Arbuthnot, in a private production with a cast of children, and with costumes and scenery. Though Handel determined to present the work publicly, the Bishop of London intervened, forbidding stage representations of religious subjects, and Handel was forced to give Esther in a concert version, without scenery or costumes. This the first printed collection of music from the oratorio (a single song, "Flatt'ring Tongue," had appeared separately in 1722).
Smith, p. 104, no. 1
Folio (12 ¾ x 9 ¼ in.; 324 x 235 mm.). Engraved title page and score; outer margin of page 3 mended without loss, 19th-century ownership entry struck through in upper margin of title. Contemporary marbled boards, gold-stamped leather title label on upper cover; rebacked and corners renewed in calf.
First edition of the complete work. The most popular of Handel’s works in his own day and performed more often than any other prior to 1759. The libretto is by John Gay with contributions by Alexander Pope and John Hughes. This is the only one of Handel’s oratorios and operas, other than Alexander’s Feast, to be published complete, with all recitatives, during his lifetime.
RISM H380; Smith, Handel, p. 82, no. 6
[With his:]
The most Celebrated Songs in the Oratorio call’d Deborah No. 544. London: I. Walsh [ca. 1735]
Folio (12 ¾ x 9 in.; 324 x 228 mm.). Engraved title page and score. Three-quarter calf and marbled boards.
First edition. Deborah, set to a text by Samuel Humphreys (after Judges V), was first performed on 17 March 1733 at the King’s Theatre, London, under the composer’s direction. This first publication consists of six songs and a duet. Three more numbers were published circa 1736, but the whole score did not appear until circa 1751.
RISM H518; Smith, p. 101, no. 1
[With his:]
The Most Celebrated Songs in the Oratorio call’d Queen Esther. London: I. Walsh, [ca. 1732]
Folio (14 5/8 x 8 7/8 in.; 372 x 225 mm.). Engraved title page and score; mended tears in fore-edge and lower outer corner of title, some marginal soiling and scattered stains. Marbled boards, printed title label on upper cover.
First edition. In 1732 Handel revived an earlier oratorio, Esther, with a libretto thought to be by Alexander Pope and John Arbuthnot, in a private production with a cast of children, and with costumes and scenery. Though Handel determined to present the work publicly, the Bishop of London intervened, forbidding stage representations of religious subjects, and Handel was forced to give Esther in a concert version, without scenery or costumes. This the first printed collection of music from the oratorio (a single song, "Flatt'ring Tongue," had appeared separately in 1722).
Smith, p. 104, no. 1