Collecting manuscripts,
letters and autographs as a business and hobby dates back to Aristotle who
amassed a library of maps and scholarly papers.
During the era of the Ptolemys beginning in 306 BC, autographs were acquired
and preserved. Empires conquering other
empires helped themselves to these collections storing and preserving them
until some other empire “borrowed” them.
Centuries of fallow collecting occurred until the 17th
century when a rekindling of interest in autographs and preserving documents became
de rigeur. England created a market place for autographs with auctions. Collecting became a profit centered business.
Ushering in the Victorian era,
people created autograph albums of a wide range of people who were
unconnected. One autograph may have been
from a person famous in one field of expertise with the next autograph from someone
far ranging from that knowledge. Autograph hunting became an insatiable mania!
By the 1880's in the United States, there were store fronts that sold autographs
and auctions were held. Among America’s autograph
collectors were J P Morgan and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Even today in the 21st
century star struck people wait at stage doors to get the autographs of the
Broadway show stars, opera singers, ballerinas, country western singers, rock
bands, comedians and even politicians. They
hold on to these signatures as an emotional and physical reminder of the
experience they just had.
In the past 12 years I have
purchased two of Gena Branscombe’s autographs that were for sale on the
internet. The first was in 2008 when an
original autographed manuscript of the first three measures of her song “Serenade”
came up for sale. This is the first
three measures of the first song on my CD … what a find. The manuscript is framed and hangs next to my
piano. Whoever the original owner of
this small manuscript was must have collected original snippets of composers’ music.
Last week autograph #2 was
added to my Gena collection. Marked “teneremente”
with four measures of her song “Heartsease”, written below that – “St.
Valentine’s Day 1926” – signed “with love Gena Branscombe”. “Heartsease” is also on my CD … another find.
This autograph came with some
provenance. The autograph was given to
Geraldine Bergh, daughter of Geraldyne Bergh, an heiress in social and
charitable circles. She was the wife of
renowned American composer, conductor and accompanist, Arthur Bergh. Geraldine assembled an autograph collection
of artists, singers, actors, conductors, composers, writers and other music
personalities that she met. Her
collection of over 800 autographs was given to a church who sold it to an antiques dealer who sold it to
me.
This lovely autograph is to be
framed and hung next to my piano.
#BringingBackBranscombe
#BringingBackBranscombe
