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Five Schools, Built to Deepen · The Ricordi House
Edgar, dramma lirico in 3 atti di F. Fontana, musica di G. Puccini (affiche avant la lettre)
Adolf Hohenstein (1854-1928) · G. Ricordi & C. Editori, Roma, Napoli, Palermo, Parigi, Londra, 1900
What it is
An 'affiche avant la lettre' - a proof pulled before the lettering was added - for Puccini's second opera, Edgar, on a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana.
Why it matters
Adolf Hohenstein drew it for the house of Ricordi, whose imprint lists Rome, Naples, Palermo, Paris and London across the sheet. The BnF dates the colour lithograph only to a range, 1890-1900, and records it at 102 x 70 cm. Hohenstein, German-born and Milan-based, effectively invented the look of Italian opera advertising, and this sheet is that style in an unfinished, purely pictorial state.
What to notice
Hohenstein's colour lithograph for Puccini's Edgar - the opera poster before the letterpress was ever laid over it.
The house that printed the aria and the advertisement in the same hand.
Provenance
- School
- The Ricordi House (Various)
- Designer
- Adolf Hohenstein (1854-1928)
- Format
- One-sheet
- Poster published
- G. Ricordi & C. Editori, Roma, Napoli, Palermo, Parigi, Londra, 1900
- Source
- Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica) · ark:/12148/btv1b90081160
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
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