Description:

Saint-Saens Charles

French Composer Camille Saint-Saens ALS from Paris


1p ALS on "Rue de Longchamp 17" letterhead inscribed overall and signed by French composer Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) as "C. Saint-Saens" in lower right corner. On bifold watermarked cream stationery paper, with remaining pages blank. Last page is mounted on black construction paper. In very good to near fine condition, with light overall toning and expected paper folds. A faint reverse impression of the embossed stationery letterhead appears over the elaborate underline of Saint-Saen's signature.

 

Camille Saint-Saens wrote this letter to an unidentified friend on April 4th from his apartment at 17 Rue de Longchamp in western Paris.

 

"My dear friend

 

Saturday is my day for going to the Institute; but whatever day next week in the afternoon will work.

 

Best wishes,

C. Saint Saens".

 

Saint-Saens was attempting to schedule a meeting with a friend. Although the letter is not dated with a year, we can assume that it was written sometime between 1904-1910, when Saint-Saens lived at this Parisian address. (According to Timothy Flynn, author of Camille Saint-Saens: A Guide to Research, the Rue de Longchamps apartment was Saint-Saen's penultimate residence; his last home was located on the Rue de Courcelle.)

 

The "Institute" mentioned in Saint-Saen's letter may refer to the Institute of France, a consortium of prestigious French art academies, where Saint-Saen was officially elected a member in 1881. During the first decade of the twentieth century when this letter was likely written, Saint-Saen performed concerts in the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, provincial France, and Monaco.

 

Camille Saint-Saens was a musical prodigy who composed hundreds of operas, piano concertos, vocal melodies, and pieces for orchestra and chamber orchestra. His most well-known works are Danse Macabre (1874), Samson and Delilah (1877) and Carnival of the Animals (1887).

 

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We do our own in-house worldwide shipping!
Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. ***PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR SHIPMENT TO BE SENT TO AN ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE ON FILE WITH INVALUABLE, YOU WILL NEED TO INFORM US OF THIS AS SOON AS PAYMENT IS SUBMITTED FOR YOUR WINNINGS*** Shipping and handling costs are competitive as we maintain discounted contracts with FedEx. If you have any questions, contact University Archives prior to bidding. After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item. We currently ship via FedEx but if your purchase is shipping to a P.O. Box, we ship via USPS. All items are insured. We ship from our offices in Westport, CT. We may opt to use a third party shipper for very fragile, bulky or oversized items. Items requiring third party shipping will be denoted in the item description. Packages shipped internationally will have full value declared on shipping form. International buyers will be responsible for any customs fees incurred.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000