".... Friday, a volume of music for lute and soprano printed in the early 16th century by Ottaviano Petrucci sold to a private bidder for $204,000 ‹ a record for a piece of printed music, the auctioneer said.
Petrucci, described as the Gutenberg of printed music, was granted a monopoly on the music publishing industry in Venice in 1498. Before Friday, his work had not been up for bid since 1949. "Petrucci was the first publisher of printed music and his editions are as rare as hen's teeth," said Stephen Roe, head of Sotheby's manuscripts department. The two-part volume, printed in 1509 and 1511, was once owned by Robert Bolling (1738-1775), a member of the House of Burgesses in the Virginia colony in the United States. Bolling's elder brother was married to Mary Jefferson, the sister of Thomas Jefferson." ______________ Roman M. Turovsky http://turovsky.org http://polyhymnion.org
