Impressive red leather-bound autograph book owned by Sophie Hauman[n] (born Kann, 1815), sister-in-law of the famous violinist Theodor Haumann (1808–1878), 12 x 8.75, signed by various friends and people of note during the mid-1800s. Highlights of the book are three lengthy AMQSs by the great composers Franz Liszt, Gioachino Rossini, and Gaspare Spontini. The Liszt is signed “F. Liszt,” June 21, 1844, and consists of nine bars of waltz-like music on a grand staff in 3/4 time. The Rossini is signed “Gioachino Rossini,” July 3, 1853, and similarly consists of ten bars of waltz-like music on a grand staff in 3/4 time. The Spontini is signed “Spontini,” January 8, 1842, and consists of twenty-five bars of the music and lyrics to “Priere de la Vestalle,” from his tragic opera La Vestale [The Vestal Virgin]. Other signers in the album include (some items affixed inside): Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna (ALS), Joseph Schad (AMQS), Henri Herz (ALS), Charles Gounod (ANS), painter Jean-Baptiste Madou (two ALSs), writer Frederic Soulie (two-page autograph poem), and various others. In very good to fine condition, with heavy wear to the covers; lighter wear and soiling to interior pages, most of which have separated from the binding (the three most significant pages are clean and fine). A remarkable compilation boasting large, bold musical quotations from Europe’s foremost composers.
