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

PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

Lot 90
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 1 008
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
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ID 870807
Lot 90 | PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 200
PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

Autograph letter signed ('Puccini') to Sybil Seligman, Torre del Lago, 3 March [1909].

In Italian. One page, 248 x 155mm, on a letter-card, integral address panel to Seligman in Nice (stamp torn out with loss of approx. 40 x 25mm at left margin, affecting four lines of text).



'... perhaps I shall not work again; I feel that my life is broken, finished ...'. A gloomy letter in the weeks after the suicide of their servant, Doria Manfredi: 'My wife is in Milan – My son is here. My days are desperately gloomy. I can [not] work at all, and perhaps I shall not work again; I feel that my life is broken, finished – I only wish to die – So many awful things, barbaric things, have happened – Even Elvira is to be pitied in some ways, because the main evil was done by the entourage ...'.



Doria Manfredi had killed herself on 28 January after a campaign of persecution by Puccini's wife, Elvira, who suspected them of having an affair.









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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