Thomas Clear Augmented History of the Violin TLC 2580

$

360

Without exaggeration and with complete security, it can be claimed that this exemplar of 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), has never been played.  It is one of Tom Clear's own "reserve" copies, and it is being offered at auction (with a confidential reserve in the low to middle hundreds) at the behest of the Executor of his Estate, in part to find 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 11 of this year 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 (Please see the photoscan of page 5 from the booklet.)

In the order in which they appear on the 4 LPs, the honor roll of violinists that Tom included in the Augmented History of the Violin on Records (1920 - 1950) is:

Jacques Thibaud
Jeno Hubay
Carl Flesch ( 2)
Henri Marteau (2)
Cecelia Hansen
Mischa Elman
Duci de Kerekjarto
Laszlo Szentgyorgi
Louis Zimmerman
Alexander Moguilewsky
Franz von Vecsey
Ibolyka Zilzer
Tosha Samaroff (2) (both from "1950 tape")
Eddy Brown
Albert Spalding
Alfred Dubois (2)
Gerhard Taschner
Alberto Bachmann
Richard Czerwonky
Heinz Stanske
Henri Merckel (2)
Juan Manen
Alfredo San Malo
Manuel Quiroga
Gregoras Dinicu
Georges Enesco (2)
Miguel Candela (Nin at the piano)
Rene Benedetti
Samuel Gardner
Karl Freund
Joseph Hassid
Ibolyka Zilzer
Hugo Kolberg
Tossy 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.  (Please see the accompanying photo scan of the second page of the booklet that accompanies the four LPs in the box.)

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.

The cover, sleeves, booklet, and disc labels all have occasional areas that are browned, but these records and the booklet had never been taken out of the box until this eBay listing was prepared.  (Please see the photoscans that accompany this listing;  they provide a fair idea of the current visual appearance of the various components of the set.)

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 that practically can be certified as "never played"?

The bidding may start at $.99, but please remember that there is a confidential reserve (which will not be disclosed, so please don't bother to ask) in the low to mid hundreds of dollars.

Finally, for the many of you who don't know what he looked like, a photo of Tom, taken by his close friend Ray Edwards, is included among the photoscans. (That image is copyright, Raymond J. Edwards, 2003.)