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An Experiment in Modern Music: Rhapsody in Blue by GERSHWIN, GEORGE

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$15,000.00

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Seller: The Manhattan Rare Book Company

Title: An Experiment in Modern Music: Rhapsody in Blue
Author: GERSHWIN, GEORGE
Seller: The Manhattan Rare Book Company (United States)
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York: Aeolian Hall, 1924. First edition. Very Good. ORIGINAL PROGRAM FOR THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF GERSHWIN'S RHAPSODY IN BLUE. About six weeks before the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin was shooting pool at the Ambassador Billiard Parlor, on Broadway and 52nd Street when his brother, Ira, entered the hall carrying an early edition of the New York Tribune. Ira proceeded to read an article from the paper, announcing a new experimental music concert organized by bandleader Paul Whiteman. In this concert, Ira continued, a piece by George Gershwin would be performed. [Adrian Symphony Orchestra] This was news to Gershwin, who had been asked some months earlier by Whiteman to contribute a piece but had turned down the request, believing the several months not enough time. And now, Gershwin had only six weeks. Whiteman, as it turned out, had decided to include Gershwin’s name after learning his musical nemesis—Vincent Lopez—would be releasing a similar concert series. Whiteman knew Gershwin’s name would bring his concert more coverage and went ahead with the inclusion hoping to propel his concert above Lopez’s [Adrian Symphony Orchestra]. Understanding Whiteman’s difficult position, Gershwin agreed to write the piece, planning to begin work during an upcoming train ride from New York to Boston, where he was headed for an out-of-town preview for a new musical of his. Gershwin later claimed that the sounds of this train, hitching and roaring down the track, inspired the thematic division of his score into five themes: Ritornello, Train (aptly named), Stride, Shuffle, and Love. Gershwin hoped to harness the energy of modern machinery in this piece, to convey the hustle and bustle of city life. [Adrian Symphony Orchestra]; [Dotsey] As Gershwin later commented on his writing process: “I set to work composing with unwonted rapidity. No set plan was in my mind – no structure to which my music would conform. The rhapsody, as you see, began as a purpose, not a plan. I tried to conceive the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America – of our vast melting-pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.” [Dotsey] Gershwin himself had been raised in close contact with the diverse musical traditions of the Lower East Side, exposed to the competing influences of Russian, Eastern European, African American, and popular American music. Resultantly, he decided that a mixture of jazz, classical, in conjunction with the rhythmic, and thematic implements of almost all these styles, was the perfect medium for portraying the city’s kaleidoscopic bustle. [Adrian Symphony Orchestra] Rhapsody in Blue received mixed reviews upon its release. The New York Times noted the piece displayed “extraordinary talent,” and public opinion was largely positive. Still, many critics felt that Rhapsody in Blue lacked focus, calling it a string of disconnected themes. [Hebblethwaite], [Adrian Symphony Orchestra] Much of this confusion stemmed from the genuinely innovative fusion at the heart of Rhapsody in Blue. As mentioned, Gershwin took classical form and infused it with the varied musical influences of his youth—blues, ragtime, Jewish folk music, and Harlem jazz. To some extent, Gerswhin’s intention was to write these genres in a way which concentrated their essence within small segments of a classical concerto, as a more culturally dominant format of music. Though some viewed these borrowings as derivative of their original cultural contexts, Gershwin’s usages of Klezmer-like arrangements, for example, nonetheless represented a groundbreaking expansion of popular music, enabling the usage of non-classical genres in dominant American culture. [Adrian Symphony Orchestra]; [Dotsey] Later reflecting on his work, Gershwin wrote about his usage of Jazz: “There had been so much chatter about the limitations of jazz, not to speak of the manifest misunderstandings of its function. Jazz, they said, had to be in strict time. It had to cling to dance rhythms. I resolved, if possible, to kill that misconception with one sturdy blow.” [Dotsey] Although Gershwin hoped to expand the possibilities of jazz, he failed to credit the African American traditions that clearly inspired him, claiming in this program that jazz “sprang into existence ten years ago from nowhere in particular.” In this way, Gershwin’s Great American kaleidoscope remained incomplete. Despite being one of the most famous works of the 20th century, audiences will never know exactly what the original performance sounded like. Pressed for time, Gershwin improvised many of the solo parts himself. This program is one of the very few surviving records of that original performance. Although enough programs were printed for a 1100 seat hall, only a few examples survive. No copies exist at auction and there are only three institutional holdings— at the New York Public Library, the George and Ira Gershwin Collection at the Library of Congress, and the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University. Rhapsody in Blue is loud, dramatic, and undeniably iconic—but few, if any, living people remember the sensation and sound of its improvised premiere. Very few material records have been preserved. This program offers a rare opportunity to relive the texture of that historic moment. The show’s program provides biographies of Whiteman’s collaborators. The biography of Gershwin reads as follows: “Mr. Gershwin has written a “Rhapsody in Blue,” which he has consented to play, accompanied by the orchestra. He is capable of everything, from “Swanee” to “A Stairway to Paradise”: from “Ingenue Baby” and “Virginia” to “Do It Again.” Delicacy, even dreaminess, is a quality he alone brings into Jazz music. Gershwin’s sense of variation in rhythm, of shifting accents, of emphasis and color is faultless. He has, moreover, an insatiable curiosity about everything connected with his work and, for that matter, with music in general. He is learning and he is not forgetting, and being one of the youngest of the composers he is actually one of the brightest hopes of our popular music.” Further descriptions of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue: “This is the first rhapsody written for solo instrument and modern orchestra. Prophesy being not the function of an annotator, it may be said that the importance of the rhapsody, quite apart from its own value, must depend to an extent upon its being kept alive in a repertoire—and there is no organization to do this unless the present concert is, as its conductor hopes, only the beginning of a series. Gershwin is a close student of music and a listener; yet there is not a derivative phrase in his work. He has composed a rhapsody and has chosen to build it out of materials known to him: the rhythms of popular American music, the harmonies produced by American jazz bands. None of the thematic material has been used before; the rhapsody is not a pastiche. The structure is simple, and it resembles concertos written by pianists in what seems, at first, the predominance of the single instrument. Mr. Gershwin’s manuscript is complete for the piano. The orchestral treatment was developed by Mr. Grofé. The rhapsody is a free development of almost all of Gershwin’s qualities alluded to in the earlier pages of this program. It has a little more crispness, a shade more of jazz and a shade less of gentleness, than some of his compositions; there is more of “A Stairway to Paradise” than of “Do It Again”; and this is natural in a composition intended specifically for jazz orchestra. Those who care for jazz will naturally be grateful to Mr. Whiteman for urging Mr. Gershwin to compose this Rhapsody. He had had it in mind for some time but had no intention of going to work upon it until the announcement was made that the Rhapsody would be played at this concert. For those who remain skeptical, another test-case may be provided. It is not inconceivable that an intelligent conductor of a symphony orchestra may want to play the rhapsody; it would probably need re-scoring, but the saxophone which has been used ever since Meyerbeer in serious music, need not be exiled.” The program also includes photos of Mr. Whiteman and his band, alongside collaborators such as Gershwin and Victor Herbert. Provenance: With signature and Yale address of "Frederick Ullman" in pencil on back. Anecdotally, later gifted by Ira Gershwin's wife Lenore to her vocational nurse and caretaker; appearing on the market now for the first time. New York: Aeolian Hall, 1924. Concert program, measuring 9.5 x 6.25 inches. 12 pages in original decorated textured grey wrappers; side-stitched with original blue cord. Housed in custom silk box. Abrasion to text at bottom of page 1 with loss of a few words. Wrappers in a remarkable state of preservation; very clean and fresh, with some light rubbing to cover decoration (corresponding to the textured ridges on cover). EXCEEDINGLY RARE: We find no records at auction, and three institutional holdings only: at the New York Public Library, the George and Ira Gershwin Collection at the Library of Congress, and the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University.

Biens Nouveaux": Rrose Sélavy; La Canne du Destin (The Cane of Destiny); Le Chasseur Gracchus (The Gracchus Hunter); Sondue (Sounded) by DUCHAMP, MARCEL; CARROLL, LEWIS; KAFKA, FRANZ ; PRASSINOS, GISÉLE

5 to 10 days for delivery

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$9,500.00

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Seller: The Manhattan Rare Book Company

Title: Biens Nouveaux": Rrose Sélavy; La Canne du Destin (The Cane of Destiny); Le Chasseur Gracchus (The Gracchus Hunter); Sondue (Sounded)
Author: DUCHAMP, MARCEL; CARROLL, LEWIS; KAFKA, FRANZ ; PRASSINOS, GISÉLE
Seller: The Manhattan Rare Book Company (United States)
Condition: Fine
Description: Paris: GLM, 1939. FIRST EDITION, Deluxe issue. Original wrappers. Fine. EXCEEDINGLY RARE DELUXE SET OF AVANTE-GARDE WORKS BY FOUR LITERARY MASTERS. Each copy one of only 15 deluxe issues. Includes the deluxe issue of Duchamp's important collection of aphorisms, "Rrose Sélavy". This extraordinary and complete collection (collectively "Biens Nouveaux") of works by Marcel Duchamp, Lewis Carroll, Franz Kafka and Gisèle Prassinos demonstrates the significance of absurdism, magical realism and surrealism across Europe in the 1930s and 40s. Published in April 1939 by Guy Lévis-Mano, one of the most creative French printers of the twentieth century, this complete series includes Marcel Duchamp's Rrose Sélavy, Lewis Carroll's La Canne du Destin, Franz Kafka's Le Chasseur Gracchus, and Gisele Prassinos's Sondue. Each copy is one of only 15 of the deluxe issue printed on high-quality Vieux Japon. This original edition of Marcel Duchamp's book of aphorisms, Rrose Sélavy, is numbered two out of only fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. Duchamp's female alter ego Rrose Sélavy was an artist, muse, and creative experiment that brought to life his symbolic use of language. Her name, as pronounced in French, sounds like "Eros, c'est la vie", meaning "The passion of love [sex], such is life." The playful puns and witty satire in this text provide clever commentary on society and the art world, offering the reader a glimpse into the mind of a revolutionary artist who believed in the joy to live and roam free in thought. Lewis Carroll's La Canne du Destin (The Cane of Destiny) is numbered thirteen out of only fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. Published posthumously in 1939, translator André Bay believed it was written in 1848 when Carroll was only 16. La Canne du Destin features two barons, a magician and a man named Blowski who dies and is transformed into mashed potatoes (!). It is notable for its fantastical storytelling and whimsical wordplay, a style which predated and foreshadowed Carroll's most famous work Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. His writing inspired the work of surrealists, like Duchamp and Prassinos. Le Chasseur Gracchus (English: The Gracchus Hunter; German: Der Jäger Gracchus), numbered seven out of fifteen copies on Vieux Japon, was translated by Henri Parisot in 1939 and is one of the earliest Franz Kafka's stories published in French. A six-page story written in 1917, it was found posthumously among Kafka's papers. The tale is about the long-dead Hunter Gracchus who is destined to wander aimlessly and eternally at sea, unable to find peace. The surrealist dreamlike imagery of the story explores themes of loneliness, alienation, and the human condition. This work represents a model for Kafka's later writing and a Kafkaesque dilemma, "two worlds that cannot make themselves understood by one another." (Emrich) Sondue (Sounded) by Gisèle Prassinos is numbered two out of fifteen copies on Vieux Japon. A French artist and writer she was discovered by André Breton in 1934, who declared "the tone of Gisèle Prassinos is unique: all the poets are jealous of it." When she was just fourteen, her first book, La Sauterelle Arthritique (The Arthritic Grasshopper) was published. For many, her personification of animals in this story was reminiscent of Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Hailed as a prodigy by the surrealists, Sondue, a novella-length narrative, was published when she was just 19 and considered macabre humor. Prassinos used automatic writing, sometimes referred to as free writing, a common surrealist technique. This was the last story she published before the start of World War II. She would not publish any writing again until 1958. This "Biens Nouveaux" collection was beautifully printed on Vieux Japon, known for its velvety texture and substantial weight and only used by Guy Lévis Mano for premium projects. René Char, French poet and member of the French resistance explained, "When the passion to give life to a collection...unites with...the art of printing, it brings us admirable successes and restores the object to its lasting plenitude. Guy Lévis Mano is the only one today who satisfies this haughty concern. He devoted his faith, his competence, his generosity and his enthusiasm to it." (Char 745) 1. Marcel Duchamp. Rrose Sélavy. Paris, G.L.M., 1939. First Edition. Small quarto (165 x 115 mm), original wrappers; glassine. Small closed tear to glassine at front base, otherwise fine. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon, this one number 2. 2. Lewis Carroll. La Canne du Destin (The Cane of Destiny). Paris, G.L.M., 1939. Small quarto (165 x 115 mm), original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon, this one number 13. 3. Franz Kafka. Le Chasseur Gracchus (The Gracchus Hunter). Paris, G.L.M., 1939. Small quarto (165 x 115 mm), original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon, this one number 7. 4. Gisèle Prassinos. Sondue (Sounded ). Paris, G.L.M., 1939. First edition. Small quarto (165 x 115 mm), original wrappers; glassine. Fine condition. One of 15 original copies on Vieux Japon, this one number 2. References: André Breton. Translated by Richard Seaver and Helen R. Lane. Manifestos of Surrealism. University of Michigan Press, 1969. René Char. In the Poet's Studio. Gallimard "Quarto" collection, 1956. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Franz Kafka." Encyclopedia Britannica, December 2, 2022. Wilhelm Emrich. Translated by Sheema Z. Buehne. Franz Kafka. Frederick Ungar Publisher, 1961. Alexander Hawkins. "Meet Rrose Sélavy: Marcel Duchamp's Female Alter Ego." AnOther Magazine. December 1, 2015. Gisèle Prassinos. Translated by Ellen Nations. Surrealist Texts. Black Scat Books, 2014. Rachel Rivenc and Kendra Roth, eds. Living Matter: The Preservation of Biological Materials in Contemporary Art. Getty Conservation Institute, 2022.

Opposing the Confederate Draft by CIVIL WAR – CONFEDERACY

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$1,500.00

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Seller: Seth Kaller, Inc.

Title: Opposing the Confederate Draft
Author: CIVIL WAR – CONFEDERACY
Seller: Seth Kaller, Inc. (United States)
Condition: Fine
Description: 1862. No binding. Fine. Broadside. ""The Petition of Certain Non-Conscripts, Respectfully Presented to the Confederate States Congress."" Richmond, August 8, 1862. Signed in print, ""The Petitioners, By their Counsel, John H. Gilmer."" 1 p., 7 7/8 x 10 3/8 in. Petitioning against General Order No. 46 of the Confederate War Department, which rescinded the part of the Confederate Conscription Act of April 16, 1862 that mandated the discharge of all voluntary enlistees under age 18 or over age 35 in July 1862. ""These were the terms of the law. They were plain, unequivocal and mandatory. Common sense - universal public opinion ... understood, accepted and adopted the law ... Shall an army order revoke a solemn act of Congress? ... Have we a constitutional Government, with specific powers granted ... or have we an unlimited Government, dependent only on Executive will or ministerial caprice? Are the People free or is the Executive supreme?"" Historical BackgroundPresident Davis, Secretary of War George Randolph, and the Confederate Congress instituted the first conscription act in American history in April 1862, after early defeats in Tennessee and North Carolina, in anticipation of the expiration of one-year enlistments signed at the war's outset. The Conscription Act would cause all males ages 18 to 35 to be drafted into service unless exempted. Those already enlisted would be held to a three year commitment from their date of entry into the service. Conscription raised difficulties for Southern politicians who had argued for most of their careers against the broad construction of federal powers in the United States Constitution. Some believed it violated the cardinal principle of states' rights, others, such as Georgia Governor Joseph Brown, protested its tendency toward centralization and despotism. Common folks complained about the fact that planters who owned 20 or more slaves were exempt, as were many overseers and tradesmen, and those who could afford to buy ""substitutes.""According to historian James McPherson, conscription was ""the most unpopular act of the Confederate government. Yeoman farmers who could not buy their way out of the army voted with their feet and escaped to the woods or swamps. ... Armed bands of draft-dodgers and deserters ruled whole counties.""ReferencesParrish & Willingham 5422 (locating 5 copies).McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom (New York, 1988), p. 432.

British Rear Admiral John Campbell Writes Shortly After End Of American Revolution On Continued Naval Tension Between America And Great Britain: Request That Your Lordship Will Be Pleased To Furnish Me With Instructions How To Act In This Affair by JOHN CAMPBELL

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$350.00

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Seller: Stuart Lutz Historic Documents, Inc.

Title: British Rear Admiral John Campbell Writes Shortly After End Of American Revolution On Continued Naval Tension Between America And Great Britain: Request That Your Lordship Will Be Pleased To Furnish Me With Instructions How To Act In This Affair
Author: JOHN CAMPBELL
Seller: Stuart Lutz Historic Documents, Inc. (United States)
Description: JOHN CAMPBELL (1720-1790). Campbell was a British naval officer rising to the rank of Rear Admiral, navigational expert, and colonial governor of Newfoundland. LS. 2 pg. 7 x 10. July 28, 1783. Leicester fields. A letter signed Jn: Campbell to Right Honble Lord North: My Lord Having been informed by Mr. William Newman a Principal Merchant trading to Newfoundland that an American vessel arrived at St. Johns from Boston in May last, laden with Rice and Flour And that the Customhouse had refused to admit her to an Entry and come to a resolution of detaining her until the Governors arrival; I think it my Duty to communicate to your Lordship this information and to request that your Lordship will be pleased to furnish me with Instructions how to Act in this Affair. This letter from John Campbell, the Governor of Newfoundland, to Frederick North, British Home Secretary, reflects the continued distrust and disagreement between Britain and the United States as the American Revolution came to a formal resolution. Lord North served as British Prime Minister through the Battle of Yorktown, which brought down his government. In his subsequent role as Home Secretary, North was tasked with helping to complete what would become the Treaty of Paris. Though the treaty would grant shared access to the Mississippi River and American fishing rights near Newfoundland, continued British military presence near the Great Lakes and harassment of American commercial vessels in the Atlantic perpetuated tension between Great Britain and the United States for the next few decades. This tension resulted in the polarizing Jay Treaty and Embargo Act and culminated in the War of 1812. The letter is in fine condition with the first page of the letter being toned.

Life-World and Consciousness: Essays for Aron Gurwitsch by [Aron Gurwitsch] Lester E. Embree [ed.]

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$75.00

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Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA

Title: Life-World and Consciousness: Essays for Aron Gurwitsch
Author: [Aron Gurwitsch] Lester E. Embree [ed.]
Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA (United States)
ISBN: 9780810103627
Condition: Very Good
Description: Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1972. Very Good. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1972. First Edition. Octavo; publisher's reddish-brown gilt-lettered cloth; xxx,610pp.; photographic portrait frontispiece. Cloth unevenly sunned at extremities, spine more noticeably so, contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper, else Very Good, internally clean and sound. Festschrift of twenty-seven philosophical papers including contributions by Maurice Natanson, Herbert Spiegelberg, and Edmund Husserl.

GREENMANTLE by Buchan, John

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$35.00

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Seller: Hoffman Books

Title: GREENMANTLE
Author: Buchan, John
Seller: Hoffman Books (United States)
Condition: Very Good+
Description: London: Folio. Very Good+. 2009. Hardcover. Pictorial blue cloth - beautiful fresh condition in slipcase. .

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