THOMAS CLEAR Augmented History of the Violin TLC 2580

$

129

THOMAS CLEAR Augmented History of the Violin TLC 2580

PRIVATE PRESSING OF 250 COPIES
 

Rare Thomas L. Clear's anthology of transfers of rare 78 RPM and early audiotape recordings, the Augmented History of the Violin on Records (1920 - 1950), this is one of the last items from my personal collection i've decided to part with. Hope it finds a deserving new home for this copy and in part to determine what the open market considers to be a fair market value for this legendary set of transfers of historic violin recordings. It surely will come as no surprise to those who have read this far into this description that copies of the Augmented History of the Violin on Records (1920 - 1950) have been offered on eBay at "Buy It Now" prices in the thousands.  Accordingly, if this set is a "Holy Grail," a legendary recording of which you have been trying to find a reasonably priced copy, a copy bought for a price set by supply and demand, in
the auction room, this is your opportunity.

The Augmented History of the Violin on Records (1920 - 1950) is the second in the series of recordings that Tom, who died on January 11th 2005 at the age of 83, published and sold on a mail order basis in the late 1970s.  (It is indeed sad that he foreswore his intention of publishing a similar anthology of organ recordings and never could be persuaded to change his mind.) For those who are aficionados of early violin playing, the Augmented History of the Violin on Record (1920 - 1950) is practically indispensable and certainly invaluable. Scans of the Table of Contents on pages two and three of the booklet that accompanies the set are included among the photoscans that illustrate this offering.  Many of the recordings are unbelievably scarce, and Tom is thought to have had the only known extant copies of certain of the recordings that he included.

For all practical purposes, it is now as good as impossible to replicate the Augmented History of the Violin on Record (1920 - 1950).  Although the original tapes survive and are in the possession of the individual who bought the rights in the recordings themselves around ten years ago, Tom deaccessioned many of the original 78s. Over the years he traded away or sold a significant number of the rare original discs, and these records are now scattered around the world, components of the collections of other connoisseurs of great violin records.

In essence, with a few carefully considered exceptions, Tom allocated to each violinist he selected for inclusion in the set the equivalent of one 78 RPM side.  For each violinist, Tom provides his own short biography. In the order in which they appear on the 3 LPs, the honor roll of violinists that Tom included in the Augmented History of the Violin on Records (1920 - 1950) is: Jacques ThibaudJeno HubayCarl Flesch ( 2)Henri Marteau (2)Cecelia HansenMischa ElmanDuci de KerekjartoLaszlo SzentgyorgiLouis ZimmermanAlexander MoguilewskyFranz von VecseyIbolyka ZilzerTosha Samaroff (2) (both from "1950 tape")Eddy BrownAlbert SpaldingAlfred Dubois (2)Gerhard TaschnerAlberto BachmannRichard CzerwonkyHeinz
StanskeHenri Merckel (2)Juan ManenAlfredo San MaloManuel QuirogaGregoras DinicuGeorges Enesco (2)Miguel Candela (Nin at the piano)Rene BenedettiSamuel GardnerKarl FreundJoseph HassidIbolyka ZilzerHugo KolbergTossy Spivakovsky

The Augmented History of the Violin on Records ( 1920 - 1950) was issued in a strictly limited edition, and even though additional copies of individual records do exist, all of these are in the possession of the Clear Estate.  Tom intended to sell (or give away, if it was the right person or institution) 250 copies, and only 250 copies, and he stuck to his word implacably.  He was concerned only with recovering the actual
costs of publishing the set, and he cared nothing about being compensated for the value of his own time and expertise.  When they were released 31 years ago, they cost $10 a set, a price that was "bargain basement," even then. Tom also could not be persuaded to publish a second edition of the Augmented History of the Violin on Records (1920 - 1950).  When the 250 copies that he offered "at a cost of $10.00 per set, one per customer payable in advance" on a "first-come first-served" basis" were exhausted, that was it. 

Tom did, however, keep a reserve of copies of the set, almost certainly no more than a dozen or so, to give to those who, in later years, came along with a genuine and specific need to have a copy. This is one of the very few such reserve copies that remained on his shelves when he died.

This copy is just about as close to mint as you can get three decades after this set of LPs was privately published, and where else might you find a copy where the record look practically unplayed, BEAUTIFUL NEAR MINT CONDITION, The Box is in VG++ condition GOOD LUCK BIDDING ! I almost hate to part with this set, as i know i'll never find another....comes with 2 booklets