Object details
Object number
v.2.a.3.21
Creator(s)
Title
Parsifal: Libretto
Date
1904
Medium
Printed ink on paper
Language
German
Publication Place
Boston
Binding Description
green cloth; stamped black lettering
Description
1 vol., 85 p. 12°; 18 cm
Dimensions
18 x 12.1 x 1.3 cm (7 1/16 x 4 3/4 x 1/2 in.)
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Inscribed in black ink (on flyleaf): For a hint of appre-/ ciation of a glimpse of / Fenway Court / and for the good which her Giotto/ did his soul. / Mrs. Gardner / from / George Turner Phelps / Thanksgiving 1904.
Provenance
Gift from the translator George Turner Phelps to Isabella Stewart Gardner.
Commentary
During Isabella’s lifetime, German composer Richard Wagner was at the epicenter of the classical music world. George Turner Phelps gave Isabella this libretto for Wagner's opera Parsifal.
Isabella admired Wagner’s work and went to great lengths to see his performances. She traveled many times to Bayreuth, where Wagner hosted an annual music festival, and attended his operas in the United States and Europe. Isabella’s libretto from Phelps, along with a second libretto for Parsifal, are housed in the Vatichino.
Bibliography
Ana Barrett, "Belle of the Opera: Gardner and Wagner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 20 July 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/belle-opera-gardner-and-wagner
Gallery
Vatichino
Rights and reproductions
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