Beethoven's Symphonies 1-9 and string-quarter 1 & 2, 11 volumes.

BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van. Symphonies and String Quartets. London: Ernst Eulenburg; Vienna: Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag, A.G., [n.d.]. 11 vols.

Small Octavo. Original yellow printed softcover wrappers bound into fine half brown calf and tan buckram cloth. Spines gilt lettered and decorated. Upper edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Prefatory texts in French and German. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, London (binder's stamp to pastedown of each volume). Comprising: Symphonies 1 & 2 (Ernst Eulenburg, London) in their original printed wrappers, loose within a matching solander case; Symphonies 3–8 (Ernst Eulenburg, London) retaining original printed wrappers, bound into hardcover bindings; Symphony No. 9 (Ernst Eulenburg, London) bound into hardcover binding, original wrappers not present; String Quartet No. 1 and String Quartet No. 2 (Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag, A.G., Vienna) in matching hardcover bindings. All volumes in matching half-calf and buckram. Solander case for Symphonies 1 & 2 bound in the same material.

The miniature score series established by Ernst Eulenburg in Leipzig in the 1870s occupies a beloved position in the history of musical publishing. Compact enough to be carried in a pocket, authoritative enough to be used in the concert hall, the Eulenburg scores have been the standard pocket edition for musicians, conductors, students, and informed listeners for over a century: the yellow wrappers as immediately recognisable to anyone serious about classical music as any object in the repertoire.

Beethoven's nine symphonies — from the comparatively modest First of 1800 to the colossal Ninth of 1824, with its choral finale and its text drawn from Schiller's Ode to Joy — represent the central achievement of the symphonic form, the works against which every subsequent symphony has been measured and found either wanting or transformed. The two string quartets from the Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag extend the set into the chamber music for which Beethoven's late work in particular is regarded as among the profoundest in all of Western music.

These works have been gathered and bound into fine hardcover bindings by Sangorski & Sutcliffe and stand as an exposé of the quality and remarkability of their work.

Fine. An excellently preserved set in a fine binding, presenting beautifully throughout. Gilt spines bright and bold on all volumes. Symphony No. 9 lacking original printed wrappers within binding; all other volumes retaining original wrappers. Some discolouration to the spines of the two string-quartet volumes.

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Catalogue Number: HH000433