PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924) - photo 1
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924) - photo 2
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924) - photo 3
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924) - photo 4

PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

Lot 92
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 1 800
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 870750
Lot 92 | PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)
Estimate value
£ 1 800 – 2 500
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

Autograph letter signed ('Giacomo') to Sybil Seligman, Torre del Lago, 16 June 1909.

In Italian. 7 pages, 192 x 144mm, on bifolia.



A despondent letter on the eve of his wife's trial for driving their servant, Doria Manfredi, to suicide. 'It is raining and I sit sadly with The Girl [i.e. La fanciulla del West] silent before me ... How overpoweringly gloomy it all is! Elvira's lawyers are trying to ruin her and myself by giving us conflicting advice ... Elvira is just the same. Nothing has changed ... she ordered me to go back home with her before the trial, and I repeated: afterwards, but not under these circumstances. So it is total war ... The trial, which it seems will have serious consequences for Elvira, is on 6 July ... Here I have tried everything, including talking to Doria's brother, but he is inflexible; he wants the trial to happen, and if it does not he has sworn to kill Elvira ... Doria said before she died that they should avenge her with her mistress but that they should not harm her master .... Torre is so dreadfully gloomy!'.



In 1908 Puccini's wife Elvira had begun to nurture unfounded suspicions that their servant, Doria Manfredi, was having an affair with Puccini. After a campaign of persecution and her dismissal from the household, Doria killed herself, and Elvira was prosecuted for slander: the trial concluded with a sentence of five months in prison, although the sentence was suspended after a payment by Puccini to Doria's family.





Special notice


This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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10.12.2022 – 13.12.2022
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