[Giacomo Puccini] | Collection of autograph letters by members of his family to Sybil Seligman, about Puccini’s last days and the aftermath of his death, apparently unpublished

[Giacomo Puccini.]

Extraordinary collection of autograph letters by members of his family to Sybil Seligman, ABOUT PUCCINI’S LAST DAYS AND THE AFTERMATH OF HIS DEATH, APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED

comprising five autograph letters by Puccini’s wife Elvira, signed (“Elvira”), expressing her hopes and fears for Puccini’s coming treatment, explaining that it is useless to put into words her state of mind, noting that Toni has been an angel, bewailing the death of her husband, who has been everything to her, referring to Turandot, describing the sadness she feels now that she is at home, observing all the objects which belonged to Puccini, who will never return; six autograph letters by Puccini’s step-daughter Fosca Leonardi, signed (“Fosca”), referring to her visit in September and confiding to her all the family’s unspeakable worry concerning Puccini’s health since then, awaiting the results of the initial consultation at Brussels, describing Puccini’s state of mind and his anxiety at not being able to complete Turandot, expressing her confusion and the necessity of her being by her father, stating that she would give her life for him, describing his operation and the doctors’ satisfaction at his progress, believing that their adored father has been saved, communicating the full depth of her despair following Puccini’s death, stressing how much she loved him, as if he were her father, mentioning the letter that she wrote to her at 4 o’clock, on the last day of Puccini’s life; and five autograph letters signed (“Tonio”) by Puccini’s son Antonio, outlining the seven-week course of treatment, mentioning the composer’s terrible days of anxiety before the operation, his cough and irregular sleep, and conveying his father’s thanks for her visit which even cheered him up a little

Purtroppo non si tratta di Papillomi come Papà crede ma è un cancro cosa terribile …Papà è sollevato di spirito, ma ha anche dei momenti di sconforto, pover ‘uomo preoccupato molto anche di non poter lavorare …È una cura lunga e terribile…Per fare questo dovranno percer un trou dans la gorge per farlo respirare attraverso un cannello do gomma – Questa cosa ha molto impressionato Papà, perché teme lo facciano soffrire enormemente – I papilloma sono in una brutissima posizione, molto bassi in gola, sotto l’epiglottiale, voi comprendete perché l’applicazione sia così difficile – Cara Sybil è un momento veramente terribile per me…Pensa che il povero Papi è stato 3 ore e ½ in sala operatoria…che strazio…I medici sono soddisfattissimi e il nostro adorato papa è salvo! Ha sopportato tutto con una rassegnazio ne da santo – Toni ed io siamo le sue infermiere io abito in clinica e non lo lascio mai…In ogni angola vi è un oggetto…che ha appartenuto a quell povero angelo che non c’è e che non tornero più…

54 pages in all, various sizes, three of Antonio’s letters on headed stationery of the Brussels Hôtel Métropole and Institut Chirurgical, one letter by Elvira apparently fragmentary, Viareggio, Brussels, Milan, 1924-1925

together with: an autograph letter by Carlo Zangarini to Sybil Seligman, ABOUT PUCCINI’S LETTERS AND HIS LIBRETTISTS (“…in fatto di collaborazione, il librettista in realtà era Lui…”), 2 pages, 7 September 1937; two autograph letters signed by Antonio Puccini to Sybil Seligman, mentioning performances of Puccini’s operas (“…Sono lieto del successo di Turandot a Londra…”), and referring to Puccini’s death mask (“La maschera del povero Papà è finalmente a posto e riposa sul cuscino che la vostra bontà ed il vostro affetto postarono a Bruxelles”), 8 pages, large 8vo, one letter dated Milan, 18 June 1927; an autograph letter signed by Fosca Leonardi to Vincent Seligman, 4 pages, 25 June 1937; and a printed memorial document (“† Giacomo Puccini † Lucca 23 Dicembre 1858 / Bruxelles 29 Novembre 1924”), 3 pages, 24 x 16cm, no place, ‘nel trigesimo dalla morte’ [29 December 1924], a few small marks, light dust-staining

THIS EXTRAORDINARY CORRESPONDENCE, APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED, PRESERVES EYE-WITNESS FAMILY TESTIMONY OF EVENTS AROUND PUCCINI’S DEATH. 

A chain-smoker throughout his life, often of cigarettes supplied by his intimate friend and former lover Sybil Seligman (1868-1936), Puccini had started to complain of a serious sore throat towards the end of 1923, while in the final stages of writing Turandot, his last operatic masterpiece. After a series of mis-diagnoses, a specialist in Florence, whom Puccini had consulted in secret, diagnosed a sub-epiglottal papilloma, later confirmed to be the manifestation of a highly advanced cancer of the throat. Puccini’s son Tonio, refusing to accept the specialist’s opinion that no treatment was possible, arranged a further examination of the composer by three eminent specialists, who suggested X-ray treatment as the only likely method of arresting the disease. On 4 November 1924 Puccini and his son set off for Brussels, to the Institut de la Couronne, one of only two institutions on the continent that offered such treatment. Puccini’s step-daughter Fosca joined her father in Brussels on 23 November; Elvira, Puccini’s wife, suffering at the time from bronchitis, remained at home in Viareggio.

After an initial stage of treatment where radium was applied externally, Puccini’s condition seemed to improve, raising the hopes of his family. They continued to rise at the beginning of the gruelling second stage of treatment which involved a three-and-a-half-hour operation to puncture Puccini’s throat and insert seven radium needles into the tumour. Perhaps the most affecting letter among all those here is that by Puccini’s stepdaughter Fosca, dated ‘Martedi’ [Tuesday, 25 November 1924], in which she recounts the operation and expresses the belief that Puccini had been saved. But tragically, while Puccini’s doctor, Louis Ledoux, was pleased with Puccini’s progress after the operation and believed that he would pull through, the composer’s heart suddenly gave way under the strain of the treatment on the evening of the 28^th, followed by a death-agony lasting ten hours.

PROVENANCE:

From Sybil Seligman by descent to the present owner

LITERATURE:

Mosco Carner, Puccini. A Critical Biography (second edition, 1974), pp.235ff