Petrucci, Ottaviano.

an unrecorded collection of the earliest printed music published by "the gutenberg of music"



1) Harmonice musices Odhecaton A, Venice: O. Petrucci, 14 January 1502 [=1503];  ff. 41-80 and 89-[104 (colophon)], = 56 leaves, watermark "A", lacking first 40 leaves (all before F), and signature L (8 leaves), [RISM Recueils 1503^{2; Boorman 5 (one incomplete copy only, in Seville)] ; This is the second issue of the first printed book of polyphonic music: no complete copy survives of the first issue.} 



2) Frottole libro primo, Venice: O. Petrucci, 28 November 1504; first edition, ff. LVI (complete), [RISM 1504^{4 ; Boorman 16 (2 copies only, in Vienna and Munich)]}



3) Frottole libro secondo, Venice: O. Petrucci, 8 January 1504 [=1505]; first edition, ff. LVI (complete), [RISM 1505^{3; Boorman 17 (one copy only, in Munich)]}



4) Frottole Libro tertio, Venice: O. Petrucci, 6 February 1504 [=1505]; first edition, ff. LXIII, lacking last leaf (colophon) [RISM 1505^{4; Boorman 18 (one copy only, in Munich)]}



5) Strambotti Ode Frottole Sonetti. Et modo de cantar versi latini e capituli. Libro quarto. Venice: O. Petrucci, [August 1505]; first edition, ff.XLVIII, lacking final 8 leaves (including the colophon), [RISM 1505^{5; Boorman 23 (one copy only: in Munich, also lacking the colophon and one other leaf)]}



280 leaves in all, oblong 4to (c.17 x 24cms), polyphonic music throughout, choir-book format, (i.e. with all voices printed together on the same opening), printed by multiple-impression, Petrucci's device and colophon to three volumes,  paragraph marks supplied in red throughout, fine woodcut initials (up to 2.8cms), many highlighted in yellow, early poetical annotation to one song ("pensar prima quel che stato"), the tallest copies recorded of these editions, modern folding box with slip-case, disbound, retaining the original stitching and traces of  alum-tawed leather, some holes to first leaf, top margins of first 10 leaves slightly affected by damp, worming to lower margin of about 40 leaves (affecting the text on 3 or 4 only in the 4th item), some staining, tear to f.IIII in the 3rd item

S. Boorman, Ottaviano Petrucci. Catalogue raisonée (2006). No copies of any of these editions are recorded in ICCU.

This is an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire the earliest book of printed music, the Harmonice musices Odhecaton A.

These five editions are the earliest publications of polyphonic music ever offered for sale at auction, and amongst the earliest examples of music ever printed: although liturgical books had been printed with music in the fifteenth century, they only contained Gregorian chants, without rhythmic notation. Before Petrucci's editions, "contemporary" music (with rhythms and voice parts) had appeared only as brief examples in books, roughly printed from woodcuts. This is the most important volume of printed music ever to appear at auction.

ottaviano petrucci was the first significant printer of polyphonic music and arguably the greatest. He has been described as the Gutenberg of music printing and these volumes as coming from the cradle of music printing. Only one other example of his printing has been offered for sale at auction in recent years, comprising lute tablature printed in 1509 and 1511 (Lot 145 in the sale of these rooms on 5 December 2003).  Previously, in 1949, Josquin's first book of Masses (1516) was offered as Lot 211 in the sale in our rooms of the Landau collection.  In 1928, the third edition of the Harmonice musices Odhecaton A (25 May 1504 [RISM 1504²]) appeared at the Wolffheim sale in Berlin.

Of the greatest rarity: not one of these five editions can be found in Britain, America or Italy.   According to RISM, the only other copy of this issue of Harmonice musices Odhecaton A (1503), in Seville, lacks one of the leaves present here (the unique copy of the first issue of 1501, in Bologna, lacks eight leaves)--so this is now the earliest edition of music to survive "complete".  Two volumes in Munich and Vienna contain all the other known copies of the first three books of frottole.  Stanley Boorman was unable to consult another such volume that apparently exists in a private collection.  Most of Petrucci's editions survive only as single exemplars or single part-books from a set. The present editions contain all the voice-parts, unlike some of Petrucci's other publications, which were issued as separate part-books.

The first volume contains music by the leading Netherlandish composers of the Renaissance, never before the printed: They are identified above the pieces, including Josquin [des Près], "Yzac" (Heinrich Isaac), "Okenghen" (Joannes Ockeghem), [Jacob] Obrecht, [Antoine] Busnoys and many others.  The four books of frottole (precursors of the madrigal) revolutionized music publishing by making popular music by Italian composers generally available: they are identified mainly by their initials;: B.T. (Tromboncino), M.C. (Cara), F.V. (Francesco d'Ana),  M.V. (Michele Pesenti), and others.

It is evident that Petrucci's editions were mainly bought to sing and perform from, and were heavily used. Thus they exist in only a handful of copies; most indeed survive as single exemplars and some are lost altogether. This is reflected in the extreme rarity at auction of musical editions dating from the first half of the sixteenth century: not just Petrucci's, but those of Antico, Attaignant, Dorico, Gardano and  other imitators. We have not traced any of those famous printers at auction in recent years: however, Petrucci was the first and the finest of them all.

The technical precision and the design of Petrucci's type-set music-setting are of a level of artistry unimagined before him and unsurpassed since: this applies both to the design of the pages and of the musical type itself. He printed by double and, in these early editions, even by triple impression, superimposing the music and capitals on the staves. He thereby ensured the visual appearance of the staves, but, more importantly enabled himself to lay out the page as a whole from the beginning. The method required a precision of registration none of his contemporaries could match. The beauty of his publications remains unequalled except by certain exceptional examples of engraved music produced in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The publication of music after Petrucci ceased production in around 1520 seems like a return to the dark ages of music printing. Petrucci's volumes were very expensive and his print runs were low, probably amounting to about a hundred copies and certainly well under the five hundred copies common later in the century.