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Lithograph from the volume "Ce Qu'on Dit et Ce Qu'on Pense" featuring Gioachino Rossini by Jean-Gabriel Scheffer, C0460, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Purchased by Steve Gerber from J & J Lubrano Music Antiquarians in December 2017.
Processed by Amanda Brent in December 2020. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2020. This item was formerly part of the Performing Arts Manuscript Materials collection, C0215.
Gioachino Rossini was one of the most successful opera composers of the 19th century. Born in Italy in 1792, he enjoyed success during his lifetime with the popular works The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola (Cinderella), and William Tell. Rossini died in 1868. His operas are still performed today.
Lithography was a method of illustration that rose to popularity in the 19th century. Invented by Alois Senefelder of Germany in 1796, lithographs are created by drawing or writing on limestone with a grease crayon, rolling the stone in ink, and then printing the resulting image - an extremely economical method as multiple copies could be created in one sitting. Colored lithography came soon after, and was also extremely popular.
Single lithograph from the bound volume "Ce Qu'on Dit et Ce Qu'on Pense," translated from the French to "What We Say and What We Think," created by the Swiss lithographer Jean-Gabriel Scheffer in 1829. The volume features multiple lithographic illustrations of various instances of people demonstrating that what they are saying to others is not what they are, in fact, thinking.
This particular illustration features the prominent Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini speaking with a young man standing next to a piano in a salon, a cello leaning against the keyboard. In addition to the titular text, below the image text in French reads "Je donnerais trois op[é]ras pour avoir fait votre romance," which translates to "I would give three operas for making your romance." Parallel to the text is a printed music quotation from Rossini's opera La Cenerentola, in which the character Don Magnifico describes a dream he has about a flying donkey: "Un somaro, ma sollene" which translates from the Italian to "A donkey, but solemn," illustrating was Rossini actually "thinks" about the young man.
The Special Collections Research Center holds many other collections related to opera and the performing arts.
This is a single item collection.
Brass, David. ["Scheffer, Jean-Gabriel] Ce qu'on dit et ce qu'on pense [What one says and what one thinks]." David Brass Rare Books. December 11, 2020. https://www.davidbrassrarebooks.com/pages/books/04082/jean-gabriel-scheffer/ce-quon-dit-et-ce-quon-pense-what-one-says-and-what-one-thinks.
Caussou, Jean-Louis. "Gioachino Rossini." Encyclopaedia Britannica. December 11, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gioachino-Rossini.
Ives, Colta. "Lithography in the Nineteenth Century." The Metropolitan Museum of Art. December 11, 2020. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lith/hd_lith.htm.
"Jean Gabriel Scheffer." The British Museum. December 11, 2020. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG45277.
"Lithography, Heliography & Photography." The International Printing Museum. December 11, 2020. https://www.printmuseum.org/ipm/lithography-heliography-photography-part-one/.
"Synopsis: La Cenerentola." The Metropolitan Opera. December 11, 2020. https://www.metopera.org/discover/synopses/la-cenerentola/.