?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
TO THE WOMAN WHO SHELTERED HIM AFTER THE 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE CARUSO, ENRICO. Small archive of 5 Autograph Letters Signed, "ECaruso" or in full, to Amy Bachman, in Italian, French, and English, thanking for a souvenir, mentioning his recent performances, acknowledging receipt of her notes, explaining that it is not easy to bring a production to San Francisco and stating that he would remember for the rest of his life the fun as well as the disaster [of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake]. Together 14 pages, 4vo or 8vo, written on folded sheet of stationery from various hotels including the San Francisco Palace Hotel; condition generally good. Each with the original envelope. Vp, 1905-08
22 June 1905: ". . . I have already sung here and with great success La Boheme, Rigoletto, Ugonotti [Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots], Aida and Ballo in Maschera. I did not send you the newspapers because they always say the same thing. "I end my season here at the end of July and afterwards I will be at my house . . . [in Florence] where I hope to receive your writing. . . ." 24 January 1908, in French: ". . . Know that, since I have been here, I have sung more than 25 times, and with all the repetitions, I hardly have a moment of my own, but I always have time to write you a few words . . . . ". . . Also know that when I have your letter in my hand, I feel that you are close to me. But unfortunately, the distance is very great and I have been content to read your charming lines three, four times. "It's easy to say come to San Francisco. But . . . the management does not bring its company outside N.Y. without the guarantee of a certain sum to cover expenses . . . . I am sure that the place which would suit me best, of all places outside N.Y., would be San Francisco. Unfortunately, I am bound [by contracts] . . . . "I am glad to know that we had fun and that the city has been rebuilt after the terrible disaster, which I will never forget . . . ." In the early morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake struck San Francisco, bringing ruin to much of the city. Among the city's destroyed buildings was the Palace Hotel, where the earthquake startled awake Caruso and other members of the Metropolitan Opera Company after an exhausting performance. Caruso and his associates escaped with their lives, but the Grand Opera House, together with the sets and the costumes of the visiting company, were completely destroyed. A San Francisco acquaintance of Caruso whose house was spared by the quake and ensuing fires, Amy Bachman, provided shelter until Caruso could depart the city, never to return.
