Huge collection of over 1,300 items signed by musicians, predominately comprising classical composers and musicians, opera singers, and conductors, with a handful of jazz and popular artists mixed in. The collection consists mostly of ink signatures on off-white cards, but also includes a few letters, photographs, and AMQSs.
Highlights of the collection include: Claudio Abbado, Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker, Count Basie, Leonard Bernstein, Jussi Bjorling, Nadia Boulanger, Benjamin Britten, Dave Brubeck, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Sammy Cahn, Maria Callas, Cab Calloway, Hoagy Carmichael, Jose Carreras, Pablo Casals, Aaron Copland, Alfred Cortot, Xavier Cugat, Placido Domingo, George Enescu, Geraldine Farrar, Arthur Fiedler, Kirsten Flagstad, Rudolf Friml, Ira Gershwin, Stan Getz, Beniamino Gigli, Benny Goodman, John Green, Ferde Grofe, Oscar Hammerstein, W. C. Handy, Howard Hanson, Arthur Honegger, Quincy Jones, Herbert von Karajan, Zoltan Kodaly, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Fritz Kreisler, Mario Lanza, Ernesto Lecuona, Liberace, Henry Mancini, Zubin Mehta, Gian Carlo Menotti, Yehudi Menuhin, Darius Milhaud, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Birgit Nilsson, David Oistrakh, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Paul Robeson, Mado Robin, Richard Rodgers, Sigmund Romberg, Mstislav Rostropovich, Arthur Rubinstein, Andres Segovia, Jean Sibelius, Beverly Sills, Kate Smith, George Solti, Isaac Stern, Leopold Stokowski, Virgil Thomson, Arturo Toscanini, Sarah Vaughan, Hector Villa-Lobos, Bruno Walter, William Walton, John Williams, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
These autographs were chiefly obtained through the mail between the 1950s and 1980s and many are still contained within their original mailing envelopes; the collection was compiled by Frank M. Flack, who began mailing out autograph requests as a private in the army, continuing as he rose to sergeant, and then later as an English professor. A small smattering of the autographs were purchased from notable dealers or received from friends. Due to the large quantity several secretarial and/or printed signatures may be included (not included in the list or count). Interested parties are encouraged to view the collection in person at our offices or call us with specific inquiries, as this collection is sold as is and no returns will be accepted.
