Gioachino ROSSINI

Autograph letter signed addressed to a friend, written from the village of Passy, now Paris, on October 3, 1863.

Having received news from Count Cesare Mattei, he begs his correspondent to come see him as soon as possible regarding a mysterious matter that brings them together. Indeed, during his stay in France, Rossini, who was both patient and friend of Mattei, attempted to patent his potion against rheumatism. For the "alchemist count" was the inventor of a miracle remedy, "electro-homeopathy". This complex technique based on granules and "electric fluids" was the most widely used alternative medicine in the world from 1870 to 1930, and was marketed by Mattei laboratories until...

Keepsake lyrique. Recueil de 12 romances, chansonnettes et cavatines
Leduc, Paris 1835, 24,6x31cm, full morocco binding.
First edition of this music collection by Rossini, Meyerbeer, Halevy, Bellini, Caraf, Donizetti... with 12 lithographs by Eugène Isabey, Gavarni, Devéria, Charlet, Bellange, Camille Rogier, Monthelier, on chine paper, mounted on thick paper.
Contemporary full purple morocco binding, housed in a goffered cloth case, spine pictorially decorated and lettered in gilt, covers decoratively stamped in blind, pink moiré silk endpapers, all edges gilt, printed on fine paper.
Slightly rubbed.
Superb copy.
Remarkable example of salon music that...