911. GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858 - 1924) Italian operatic composer whose works include La Boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly. A remarkable I.S.P., a 11 1/2" x 9" sepia photograph by Aldolfo Ermini on a 15" x 13" mount (sight), inscribed and signed by Puccini on the bottom, "G. Puccini Milan 9.2.06", to his early lover and life-long friend and confidante, Sybil Seligman. In addition to this excellent association, at the top of the mat, Puccini pens a beautiful, most remarkable A.M.Q.S., the final four bars of the madrigal from his work Manon Lascaut, reading: "Clori a zampogna che soave plorÚ non disse mai no!", signed at right. The addition of the musical quote occasioned a bit of revision to the inscription at the bottom, and Puccini changes original inscription, from "a [illeg.] Dame Sybil Seligman" to "alla cara amica Sybil Seligman" [to my dear friend...], and changes his more formal closing of "hommage de" to "affectionately G. Puccini Milan 9.2.06", with an additional date at right: "[illeg] 18.3.06". Puccini first met Sybil Seligman in the fall of 1904, when he traveled to London to see Manon Lescaut open the season at Covent Garden. The beautiful and cultured wife of a London banker was introduced by fellow composer Paolo Tosti. After a brief romantic affair, the two quickly became very close, platonic friends, exchanging letters for the remainder of their years. According to biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, Seligman did not continue the romantic affair, as she did not want to risk a scandal that would ruin her reputation and possibly separate her from her son. Phillips-Matz continues: "Hers was the turn-of-the-century sphere of the Schiffs, the Warburgs, the Eberstadt sisters, Otto Kahn, and Lady De Grey, people who lived for society, art, and music, wintered in Nice, Monte Carlo, and St. Moritz, and spent the summers in Italy. However, Puccini saw Sybil not as a social butterfly but as a wise, sincere, trustworthy friend. She also helped [Puccini] professionally. An amateur singer and a trained musician, and active theater enthusiast and opera lover, she reported on singers and scouted for plays that might not otherwise have come to his attention. Even some of their earliest letters about 'the search'...She was particularly helpful when he began studying David Belasco's The Girl of the Golden West...", which of course later became Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, premiering in New York in 1910. (See Phillips-Matz, Puccini: A Biography, p. 150-151). Some silvering to photo with a few minor scratches and cracks to emulsion, mount bears some mild toning, a few cracks at corners, else very good condition. An exceptionally fine and important association piece - in fact, this very photo was the frontispiece of the feted work Puccini Among Friends, written by no other than Seligman's son Vincent Seligman. Published in 1938 and dedicated to his mother, this study is considered one of the most authoritative works about the composer. $10,000 - 12,000