Gli Avvisi Delle Officini G. Ricordi & Co. (Poster Art Printed By G. Ricordi)

n.d. (ca. 1914) Introductory flyer plus 70 gloriously coloured lithographed/chromolithographed plates, unbound as issued, in clamshell box housed in slipcase. Advertised as examples of the finest poster art of the previous 20 years, including works by A. de Karolis, A, Hohenstein, L. Mellicovitz, L. Cappiello, L. Cavaleri, F. Laskoff, L. Caldanzano, J. Palati, M. Dudovich, among others, each plate bearing artist’s name. Although clamshell box and slipcase are in poor condition, the plates vibrate and sparkle with gleaming colour and are ALL PRESENT, with only a few nicks and a couple of small closed tears on the margins of one or two, well away from the image. Individual plates from this collection normally sell for US $300-$500, and this is the COMPLETE SET. Since Ricordi was, and still is, Italy’s foremost music publishing house, many plates advertise opera, operettas and concerts, though soap and stoves are not disdained. Text in Italian. Slipcase bears label with elegant letterhead of the Grand Hotel de la Gare du Quai D’Orsay, Paris, addressed to a resident of New York, to whom this package was shipped, complete with 25 centime stamp of the period.