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1820 STENDHAL — THE LIFE OF HAYDN, FOLLOWED BY THE LIFE OF MOZART
First American Edition | First Stendhal Work Published in America | L. A. C. Bombet
BEYLE, Marie-Henri, writing as L. A. C. Bombet. The Life of Haydn, in a Series of Letters Written at Vienna. Followed by the Life of Mozart, with Observations on Metastasio, and on the Present State of Music in France and Italy. Providence: Published by Miller and Hutchens, and Samuel Avery, 1820.
First American edition. 307 pages.
A scarce and bibliographically important early American imprint containing Stendhal’s first published work, here issued under the pseudonym L. A. C. Bombet.
Modern Stendhal scholarship identifies this Providence edition as the first work by Stendhal to appear in America. Published a decade before The Red and the Black and nearly two decades before The Charterhouse of Parma, it introduces American readers to the future major French novelist at the very beginning of his literary career.
The book is also an appealing early work of musical biography and criticism, devoted to Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Metastasio, and contemporary European music.
STENDHAL BEFORE THE GREAT NOVELS
The original French work appeared in Paris in 1814 under the pseudonym Louis-Alexandre-César Bombet, one of the names used by Marie-Henri Beyle, later known as Stendhal.
An English translation followed in London in 1817. The present Providence edition appeared in 1820 as the First American Edition and, according to modern Stendhal scholarship, the first work by the author published in the United States.
Its place in Stendhal’s career is significant:
• 1814: Original French publication under the Bombet pseudonym
• 1817: English translation published in London
• 1820: First American edition published in Providence
• 1830: The Red and the Black
• 1839: The Charterhouse of Parma
American readers thus encountered Stendhal more than a decade before the publication of the novel that established his enduring literary reputation.
THE FULL WORK
The volume includes:
• The Life of Joseph Haydn
• The Life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Observations on Metastasio
• Commentary on the state of music in France and Italy
It is therefore considerably broader than a conventional double biography. The book combines musical biography, criticism, travel and cultural observation, literary commentary, and aesthetic judgment.
Music remained one of Stendhal’s lifelong passions, and these early writings already reveal qualities associated with his mature work: psychological observation, strong personal enthusiasm, cosmopolitanism, aesthetic discrimination, and fascination with Italian and European cultural life.
A LITERARY CONTROVERSY
The work occupies an important place in the history of musical biography and literary authorship.
Stendhal drew extensively upon Giuseppe Carpani’s earlier writings on Haydn, especially Le Haydine. These borrowings eventually led to a celebrated controversy concerning literary appropriation and plagiarism.
The Providence edition therefore has several overlapping areas of interest. It is an early work by a major novelist, an important contribution to nineteenth-century musical writing, and a document in the history of literary borrowing and authorship.
EARLY AMERICAN MUSIC AND PRINTING
Published in Providence, Rhode Island, by Miller and Hutchens and Samuel Avery, the book is also a desirable early American imprint.
It reflects the growing American appetite for serious writing on European music, biography, aesthetics, and cultural life during the early nineteenth century.
The volume will appeal to collectors of:
• Stendhal and French literature
• Haydn and Mozart
• Early musical biography
• Music criticism
• Early American imprints
• Providence and Rhode Island printing
• Transatlantic literary history
• The circulation of European culture in bound in three-quarter calf leather over marbled boards.
The spine is ruled and lettered in gilt, with the title reading:
HAYDN
MOZART
L. A. C. BOMBET
The binding also bears the date 1820 at the foot of the spine. The marbled paper sides are richly colored in brown, red, ochre, and cream, creating a handsome early nineteenth-century appearance.
The binding presents well on the shelf and is particularly appropriate for an important literary and musical text of the period.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Author: Marie-Henri Beyle
Pseudonym: L. A. C. Bombet
Title: The Life of Haydn, in a Series of Letters Written at Vienna. Followed by the Life of Mozart, with Observations on Metastasio, and on the Present State of Music in France and Italy
Place: Providence, Rhode Island
Publishers: Miller and Hutchens, and Samuel Avery
Date: 1820
Edition: First American edition
Pagination: 307 pages
Language: English
Binding: Three-quarter calf leather over marbled boards
Spine: Ruled and lettered in gilt, dated 1820
Subjects: Stendhal, Haydn, Mozart, Metastasio, musical biography, music criticism, early American publishing
CONDITION
Very Good overall.
The binding is firm, square, and attractive, with a pleasing shelf appearance. The calf leather remains substantial, with rubbing and light surface wear appropriate to age. The marbled boards retain strong color and decorative appeal. The gilt spine tooling and lettering remain clearly visible.
Internally, the text shows light to moderate foxing, age toning, and occasional discoloration consistent with American paper of the period. The text remains complete, legible, and fully usable.
The binding and text block should be handled with the appropriate care expected of an early nineteenth-century volume.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
COLLECTOR APPEAL
This scarce First American Edition combines several important collecting interests:
• The first work by Stendhal published in America
• Stendhal’s earliest literary period
• Haydn and Mozart
• Early musical biography and criticism
• A famous literary plagiarism controversy
• Providence, Rhode Island printing
• Early American imprints
• An attractive three-quarter calf leather binding
• Transatlantic literary and musical history
A compelling early American literary and musical imprint for collectors of Stendhal, French literature, Haydn, Mozart, early American publishing, and the history of European literature and music in the United States.
