The André Meyer Collection of Music - Paris Oct 16-17

Sotheby’s is honored to announce the sale of the André Meyer Collection – the most important collection of printed music in private hands in Europe. Thanks to its quality, rarity and diversity, this collection of manuscripts, printed music, paintings, furniture, sculpture, drawings and musical instruments, assembled during the first half of the 20th century, is one of the most impressive French collections devoted to music. It will be offered for auction at Sotheby’s Paris on 16/17 October 2012.



André Meyer (1884-1974) was one of the few collectors to have devoted his entire life to music. He was a patron, critic and inspirer of artists, and opened his library to anyone who wished to explore its particular treasures. Serge Lifar used it to carry out research; Rostropovich worked on Debussy’s youthful manuscript albums; and Stravinsky had the thrill of rediscovering his manuscript for The Rite of Spring – which André Meyer’s son donated to the French Ministry of Culture in 1986, and is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale.



André Meyer began his collection in 1899 at the age of 15. In 1904 he obtained a degree in English Literature at the Sorbonne, then worked for the family textiles firm until 1954. He acquired many items for his collection during professional trips across Europe and to the United States. Such was his love of music that, in the 1920s, he bought the mansion in Rue des Petits-Champs once owned by the composer Lully. Meyer was Treasurer of the French Musicology Society from 1945 until his death in 1974. After his death, the collection was divided between family members, and this auction contains the major part of the original collection, about 450 lots.



The heart of the collection consists of manuscripts; books and printed musical scores; portraits of the composers Monteverdi, Rameau, Gluck, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann; furniture; sculpture; and a selection of old musical instruments.



An Autograph Sketchleaf of Piano Music by Ludwig van Beethoven Once Owned by Frédéric Chopin (estimate: €100,000-150,000 / $122,800-184,100).



The First Collected Edition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Partitas for Keyboard (est.€80,000-120,000 / $98,200-147,300).



Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Personal Annotated Copy of His Treatise on Harmony(est.€60,000-80,000 / $73,700-98,200).



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