Description:

Benjamin Disraeli ALS Re: Jenny Lind's Performance as "Lucia di Lammermoor"

A 4pp autograph letter signed by future British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) as "B Disraeli" near the bottom of the last page. Written on June 11, 1848 at Disraeli's London residence at 1, Grosvenor Gate. On bifold mourning stationery (probably in honor of Disraeli's father Isaac, who had died six months earlier in January 1848). Docketed in another hand at top. Expected paper folds as well as some extra wrinkles, tiny closed tears, and chipped edges. Else very good. 4.325" x 7.125." Comes with an archival folder from Maggs Bros. Ltd. (London, England).

Disraeli wrote this letter to Benjamin Lumley (1811-1875), the Canadian Jewish expatriate managing Her Majesty's Theatre, a historic opera company in London's West End. This letter is listed as #1655 in the published collection of Disraeli's correspondence edited by M.G. Wiebe, "Volume V, Benjamin Disraeli Letters, 1848-1851" (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Inc.), p. 33.

In full, with unchanged spelling and punctuation:

"My dear Sir -

I have been so pressed by public business, this last week, that I have never found a moment to acknowledge your obliging kindness, + I would not delegate the office to another.

We were highly gratified by the Lucia of Mlle. Lind, who is indeed an artist of singular originality + freshness.

I trust your campaign fulfills all your wishes. I am always interested in your career.

When you are passing Grosvenor Gate, en route to the Park, Mrs Disraeli will be very happy to see you. She is often at home, + always on Sunday mornings.

Believe me,
my dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours

B Disraeli.

Grosvenor Gate

June 11. 1848."

Jenny Lind (later Goldschmidt) (1820-1887), or, the "Swedish Nightingale," was among the most highly regarded opera singers of nineteenth-century Europe and the Americas. She acquired fame and success after first charming audiences of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1838. Lind's extraordinary voice and dramatic talent generated frenzy, or "Lindomania," wherever she toured. Lind made her London debut before Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert at Benjamin Lumley's Her Majesty's Theatre in May 1847.

Lind returned to Great Britain a year later, in 1848, performing in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh throughout the summer and autumn. Evidently Disraeli had recently seen Lind perform the role of "Lucia" in Gaetano Donizetti's 3-act tragic opera "Lucia di Lammermoor." Based on the 1819 novel "The Bride of Lammermoor" by Sir Walter Scott, the opera set in in eighteenth-century Scotland dramatized the love story of Lucy Ashton and Edgar Ravenswood.

Disraeli's correspondent Benjamin Lumley was largely responsible for Europeanizing Her Majesty's Theatre in the early 1840s by introducing French and Italian dramas, musical scores, and librettos. Lumley enjoyed initial business success but then returned to practicing law after running into financial difficulties.

Benjamin Disraeli is known first and foremost as a British statesman and future two-time Prime Minister, but this letter highlights Disraeli's intellectual and aesthetic side. Disraeli was a prolific novelist before, during, and after his political career. His love of music, arts, and culture can be seen in this letter. 

Disraeli would serve two terms as British Prime Minister in 1868 and between 1874-1880. He devoted 44 years of service to Parliament and was one of Queen Victoria's most cherished advisers. He wrote more than a dozen novels and also produced poems, non-fiction works, and plays over a 50-year-long period.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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