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James S. Hall Collection of George Frideric Handel
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
James S. Hall (1899-1975) was a surgeon by profession but an ardent Handel scholar and collector by avocation. In addition to the Handel scores and libretti the Princeton University Library acquired Hall's correspondence with performers, composers, conductors, scholars and other collectors of his heyday, the 1950s and 60s. As the founder and manager of the Deal and Walmer Handelian Society, Hall was responsible for arranging performances of Handel's works, for public celebrations of Handel's achievements, such as the mounting of the plaque in Dublin on the hall where Messiah received its world premiere, and for representing English Handel lovers at festivals in honor of Handel's memory, especially those in the Handel town of Halle in the former East Germany. At the time of those festivals, travel to East Germany was complicated by Communist bureaucracy, the paper trail of which is preserved in the collection. Hall was also consulted during work on the Hallesche Handelausgabe, the standard edition in German of Handel's works, because of his authority as a Handel scholar. Because of these connections with Handel scholars in Germany, some of the material in the collection is in German. A Roman Catholic, Hall was interested in Handel's knowledge of Latin Church music and his use of it in his own compositions, especially during the period he was known to have spent in Italy. Hall published on this topic as well as on Handel's use of grace notes, in the context of his larger interest in the history of Handel performance.
The James S. Hall Collection of George Frideric Handel includes twenty-nine volumes of musical manuscripts of Handel by various 18th-century copyists, mainly anonymous but some identified, most of them collected by James S. Hall, a surgeon by profession and a Handel scholar and collector by avocation. Included are manuscripts of Belshazzar (circa 1744), the nearest in relation to Handel since it is entirely in the hand of John Christopher Smith, Sr., Handel's chief copyist and amanuensis; Alexander Balus (circa 1748) by the copyist "S5", so called by scholar Jens Peter Larson; Joseph, also written by S5; Israel in Egypt (circa 1760) in various hands; Odes for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) and Queen Anne's Birthday (1714), one volume in the hand of several copyists; Te Deum (before 1780), in unidentified hand; the Ayelsford Collection, a set of miscellaneous manuscripts; Messiah and Coronation Anthems, part-book for a bass; a fair copy of Alexanders-Fest, oder, Die Gewalt der Musik . . . (1766-1770); and an English manuscript of the opera Berenice, in the hand of Handel's copyist S2, from the library of Charles Jennens, Handel's patron and librettist of Messiah, and annotated by him.
Other manuscripts include a volume of operatic arias (circa 1738-1743) containing music of Handel and other composers; a folio manuscript book including two Handel pieces; and a photostat of a printed version of Israel in Babylon (1765), a potpourri of Handel's works and some unidentified music. The collection also contains festival medals, portraits of Handel, and prints of city views and churches associated with the composer, as well as an original issue of the London Chronicle, an 18th-century newspaper that reported Handel's burial in Westminster Abbey, and an original watercolor by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, showing a performance of a Handel oratorio at Convent Garden before its 1808 fire. In addition, the papers of James S. Hall are comprised of correspondence, including letters by Benjamin Britten, counter-tenor Alfred Deller, harpsichordist Thurston Dart, Handel collectors Sir Newman Flower and William Charles Smith, and various other composers, performers, scholars and collectors, as well as subject files, including articles by Hall and material relating to Handel festivals and societies, especially the Deal and Walmer Handelian Society which he founded in 1946.
For a more descriptive look at the collection, see: Knapp, J. Merrill. "The Hall Handel Collection," Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol. XXXVI, No. 1 [Autumn, 1974], pp. 3-18.
Arranged in 7 series: 1. Manuscripts of Handel's Works and Works by Contemporary Composers; 2: Correspondence of James S. Hall; 3: James S. Hall as Handel Scholar: 4. James S. Hall as Handel Collector; 5. Handel Societies and Festivals; 6. Miscellaneous Handel Material; 7. Non-Handel Material Relating to James Hall.
This collection of manuscripts is part of a larger collection containing 425 volumes of printed music from 1714 through the mid-19th century. The main portion of this collection, which was assembled by James S. Hall, was acquired by private sale in 1974. Since 2005, the library has occasionally purchased additional manuscripts of Handel's works from other sources; the provenance of these additions is noted in the descriptions of those items.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Margaret Sherry Rich and Teresa T. Basler in 2002. New material was added to the finding aid by John Delaney in 2005, 2011, and 2013, and by Kelly Bolding in 2019.
During 2022, restrictions on Series I, Manuscripts of Handel's Works and Works by Contemporary Composers, were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
Subject
- Composers -- England -- 18th century -- Manuscripts
- Coronation music -- England -- 18th century
- Collectors and collecting -- England -- 20th century
- English newspapers -- 18th century
- Music -- England -- 18th century
Occupation
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
A collection of 29 bound manuscripts including but not restricted to contemporary copies of Handel's musical works. Some of these copybooks include works by other contemporary composers. Also included are several indices of Handel's works and a scrapbook concerning 19th-century performances at various Handel festivals.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description29 items
Written in unknown hand. Probably derived from H-G. volume 82, but has the keyboard part realized throughout. Original may have been for a Cambridge performance circa 1935. The score was again used for the Abingdon Handel Festival on May 6-8, 1959. Also includes a broadside for the 1959 Abingdon Handel Festival.
Physical Description1 item
Written in unknown hand on a pale blue paper, which is probably to be dated 1807. The 3/4 section of the first chorus of the Dettingen Te Deum has two missing bars at 82-84, a mistake which occurs in all the early printed scores (Walsh, Randall, Wright, etc.) until corrected in the English Handel Society's edition of 1846/7. This suggests that this manuscript may have been copied from the early printed scores.
Physical Description1 item
Written in unknown hand. Contains the Italian setting of "Return O God of Hosts," used in the pasticcio opera Rossane, or Alexander in India, the year following the first performance of Samson, and which has not been printed. Two other unpublished Handel songs include "La gloria e la fortuna," and "Son questi vaghi," originally written for later performances of Alexander in India, are here written out for Rossane, in November and December of 1743. Titles include: "Diro che l'ami" and "Spera fors'anche" from Vello d'oro, and "Parla de studi" and "Bella diva" from Diana by Giovanni Battista Pescetti ( circa 1704-1766); "Amorosa la lusingho," "Il cor fedel," "Vidi al par" and "Tui per senno" from Partenio by Francesco Maria Veracini 1690-1768; "Dirti ben mio" by [Leonardo Leo]; Air in A "O Love Regard a Virgin's Sigh," Air in F "O Beauteous Maid," Air in D minor "O Power of Bliss," Air in G "Her Breath Perfumes the Vale," Air in "A While on My Breast," Air in F "O Gentle Sleep," Air in F (French horns) "Beneath That Shade;" and "Ah, no, non voler," "Il cor mio," "La gloria e la fortuna," "Lusinghe pie care," "Fra le guerre," "Men fedele," "Placa l'alma," "Permettete ch'io," "Superbette," "Son questi vaghi," "Sempre fido e disprezzato," "Alla sua gabbia," and "In generoso onor," and "Return O God of Hosts" from Rossane, Air in F "What Beauteous Scenes," "O Godlike Youth," "As I by Charming Chloris," "Thou Rising Sun," "Per pieta: l'Incontanza delusa," and "Minuets in E and G," by Handel.
Physical Description1 item
Written in unknown hand. Includes "Song for St. Cecilia's Day," with the overture and no. 5-11 wanting (Novello edition). Several mistakes in the notation, corrected on p. 7 in contemporary pencil as "wrote not right." Together with "Serenata on Queen Ann's Birth Day." The score follows that later printed in H-G 46a version B of "Let Flocks & Herds." Also includes two songs "As Cloe Came By," and "Mirth Admit Me" (Allegro) Soprano version, dated circa 1739.
Physical Description1 item
appears to be for a church or cathedral bass singer, whose name may have been William Thompson. Among a number of anthems is the bass part of the choruses in the Messiah in an arbitrary order but with occasional reference to the paging of the Randall & Abell edition ( 1767 or later). Titles include: Psalm 1, 29, 81, and 118; "Hallelujah Chorus," "All We Like Sheep," The Son of Levy," "Thou That Tel[l]est Good Tidings," "Unto Us a Child," "Since by Man Came Death," Glory to God;" also includes "Life Up Your Heads," Behold the Lamb of God," Surely He Hath Born[e] our Grief," "...And With His Stripes," "His Yoke is Easy," "He Trusted in God," "Let All the Angels," "The Lord Gave the Word," "Their Sound is Gone Out," "Let Us Break Their Bonds," "But Thanks Be to God," and "The Amen Chorus." The manuscript was originally bound with a printed copy of Handel's Coronation Anthems edited by Randall 1768-1776 with this name on the cover.
Physical Description1 item
Adapted from the opera overtures to Parthenope, Lotharius, Ptolemy, Siroe, Richard I, and Admetus. The selection and order of these overtures is that first published by Walsh as XXIV Overtures Fitted to the Harpsichord or Spinnet 1730 and later editions, of which the above form the first six. There are added dynamics and small omissions and different orchestration in places from the above and other Walsh editions. Copyist unknown.
Physical Description1 item
Written in the early 18th century, in unknown hand.
Physical Description1 item
Written in the late 18th century, in unknown hand. The libretto, by Charles Jennens, is adapted from Milton's L'allegro ed il penseroso and Jennens's Il moderato. The original work was composed in 1740.
Physical Description1 item
Written in the late 18th century, in unknown hand. Inverted at back are 2 one-page sketches for the choruses "Oh, the Pleasure of the Plaine," (for oboe) and "Galatea, Dry Thy Tears ..."
Physical Description1 item
Written in the late 18th century, in unknown hand. Together with an oboe and violin duet entitled "As Steals the Morn" (2 p.) and a sketches for the bassoon part for Macbeth (7 p.). Program announcement for a Shaw Musical Society performance and a book of words (2 leaves) to accompany the performance, laid in.
Physical Description1 item
Written in the hand of Le Tellier, copyist to Louis XVI, and at least 2 other unidentified hands. Includes two works by Handel: his minuet from Samson and the flute part of "Fixed in His Everlasting Seat." The names of Guadagni and Glassi appear against one duet. Titles include "Les desirs de dames," "Les drapeaux," "Duo des deux avares, "La dum dolerita," "Contredanse," and L'amabilité;" untitled minuet from Handel's Samson; untitled work of "Sigr. Di Vienne" [possibly François Devienne 1759-1803]; "Baldàn" [rondo], and "La chasse de Venus," of Giovanni Paisiello 1740-1816; "Ciaccole" of Sigr. [Tomelli]; "Romance" of Valentin Roeser (fl. circa 1735-1782); flute part for Handel's "Fixed in His Everlasting Seat;" "Menuet de caprice," "Menuet allemande," Double," Menuet da cupid" [variation], and "La Furstemberg" [with four variations]; and the violin part to Haydn's 10th symphony, dated circa 1793.
Physical Description1 item
Probably belonging to a Miss Baring, who signed and dated the front flyleaf on 25th August 1755. Inverted at back are pastoral songs by Handel, some from Thomas Augustine Arne's Comus including "Let Me Wander," with ornaments. Titles include: "Concerto in F," "Minuet in F," "Minuet in D," and "Sonata in G" by Hasse; "Chorus Happy Pair" and "Water Music (variations on I)" by Handel; "Air & variations in G" by Jack Latin; "Air in C" by [Alessandro] Scarlatti; "Air and variation in A" "Minuet in A," "Minuet in D," "Air in F," "Air in C," "Song in F: In vain you tell," "Lesson in B flat," "Larghetto in G minor," "Gigue in B flat," "Song in G: Cupid, God of soft," "Sonata in D," "Allegro in D," "Minuet & Variations in C," "Air in F (minuet)," "Sonata in E," "Aria in E & Variation," "Air in E," "Air in A," "Minuet in G," "Air in C," "Minuet in B flat," and "Air in C" by Felton; "Air in A" and "Minuet in G" by Thomas Linley 1732-1795; "Air in F," "Minuet in E," "Minuet in D," "Air in E," "Minuet in E," "Air (Ailen Aroon)," "El Fandango (in D minor)," "Aria in E," and "Minuet in D" by Groot; "Minuet in E" by [Vauxhall?]; "Minuet in G" by William Herschell 1738-1822; "Adagio (1st Concerto)," and "Adagio (4th Concerto) by Handel; "Fandango in B flat" by Thicknape; "Allegretto in D," "Minuet in D," and "Air in A;" "March from Montezuma" by Karl Heinrich Graun 1704-1759; "March in E flat;" and "Air in Alonzo & Imogene" by Morhead.
Physical Description1 item
Written in at least 2 different scribal hands. Probably in the hand of Copyist S6 (Larsen) for the first 37 p. and in the hand of Copyist S10 (Larsen) for the remainder, dated 1738. Together with an 18th-century copy of the original trombone parts for Israel in Egypt (p. 261-276) laid in at back.
Physical Description1 item
Probably written by a Smith copyist, S8. Titles include: "Deh! fuggi," "L'ingrato non amar," "Si che ti renderai" and "Overture" from Radamisto; "Pupille s'degnose," "Lungo pensar," and "Ma come amar" from Muzio Scaevola; "Dimmi o' speme," "Seri solvi," and "Vivere per penare" from Floridante; "Non credo," "Con un vezzo," and "Amante stravagante" from Flavius; "Gode l'alma," "Pensa adamare," "Quanto dolci," "Notte cara," "D'ell onda," "A teneri affetti," "Sio dir potessi," "Ah tu no sai," "Trema tiranno," "Affanni del pensier," "Benche me sia," and "Spera ti," "Alla fama," "La speranza," "Le profonde," and "Overture" from Otho; "Da ti parto," "Sirti scogli," and "Rompo di ucco" from Flavius; and "Sweet Echo" from Arne's Comus.
Physical Description1 item
Probably written by a Smith copyist, S8. Titles same as in Hall-Handel manuscript no. 14 (see above).
Physical Description1 item
Probably in the hand of John Christopher Smith (the elder). This volume is no. 10 in a series made for Frederick, Prince of Wales about 1745. An engraving by Heath – The Apotheosis of Handel 1787 – has been inserted later as a frontispiece. The contents are as in the Arnold edition except in part III where the air "Tho' on Rapid Whirlwinds" and the recitative "Already There Retaken" are omitted.
Physical Description1 item
Probably in the hand of John Christopher Smith (the elder). This volume is no. 13 in a series made for (Frederick) Prince of Wales about 1745. The contents generally follow the Prout-Novello score, except that n. 38 and 39, "Triumph Hymn" and "Glad Time at Length" are omitted and the order of "Heroes may Vaunt" and "Mighty Love" have been retained in their correct original position in the score.
Physical Description1 item
Probably in the hand of John Christopher Smith (the elder). This volume is no. 8 in a series made for (Frederick) Prince of Wales about 1745. The contents generally follow the Novello vocal score, with the exception of n. 4, 5, 7, 8, and the two Chandos Anthems. Handel did not include numbers 4 and 5 "The Fate of Babylon" and "Lament Not Thus" in the performance. Contains the final instruction "Ends with the Anthem 'I Will Magnifie Thee o God my King &c."
Physical Description1 item
Containing materials related to 19th-century performances of Handel's music in England. Includes manuscript letters, magazine and newspaper clippings, performance ticket stubs, embossed rehearsal tickets 1834, printed programs, printed publications, engraved plates (portraits, illustrations), etc. Contains memorabilia from performances of the Royal Music Festival, Westminster Abbey 1834; Clippings about the first performance of Handel's "Coronation Anthem" and the "Overture to Samson," at the Music Festival at Westminster Abbey in 1834; printed programs from the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace 1857-1859; printed diagrams of sections of roofs of various cathedrals, music halls &c used for great musical festivals; printed diagram of the comparative dimensions of the principal orchestras of England; Autograph letters signed by various musicians (some from the Handel Festival at Crystal Palace, 1859). Includes correspondence of: Mr. Michael Costa, conductor of the Handel Festival, 1859; Clara Novello (Soprano); James Howell, R. S. Pratton (flutist), and others; and newspaper clippings concerning the Handel Festival at Crystal Palace in 1862.
Physical Description1 item
Originally compiled from a manuscript in the Royal Music Library (RM 19.f.8) attributed to Victor Schoelcher. Revised and augmented by James S. Hall, 1953 September, Courtlands, Walmer. Includes 1 ALS from Isabelle Coopersmith to Dr. Hall, dated 1968 May 23.
Physical Description1 item
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Compiled by James S. Hall, Walmer, 1953. Includes 1 TLS from Merrill [?] to "Jimmie," dated Wotton House, Wotton Underwood, Aylesbury, Bucks, 1968 June 18.
Physical Description1 item
Together with an account of the correspondence regarding its sale. The collections is now in the National Library of Scotland.
Physical Description1 item
There are two additional copies in Box 11, Folder 4.
Physical Description1 item
1 item
Notated on 12-stave ruled paper in an unidentified hand, with occasional corrections, bound in original blindstamped suede (worn, lacking spine). This Te Deum in Bb is scored for soprano and two tenor soloists, men's choir, and instruments, and pre-dates the first printing of the work in 1788.
Physical Description1 item
Fair copy in a neat hand; monogram at foot of half-title, 'JH'. Pages numbered by hand, with a calligraphic half-title ('Kantate') and title-page. Includes handwritten libretto. Soprano arias corresponding to nos. 11 & 14 in original work not by Handel; includes additional chorus after original no. 19.
Physical Description1 item
English manuscript of the opera Berenice, in the hand of Handel's copyist S2, from the library of Charles Jennens, Handel's patron and librettist of Messiah, and annotated by him. The scribal full score of the opera in three acts, notated in brown ink on up to ten staves per page, scored for voices and orchestra (strings, oboes, bassoons and continuo), with figured bass throughout (and with a few additional figures added by Charles Jennens), including the overture, the arias, ariosos and recitatives, and the final Coro, and with extensive stage directions. Complete but for Berenice's aria "Avvertite mie pupille."
Physical Description1 item
English manuscript of twenty-six opera arias by Handel, including nine from "Alcina", six from "Siroe," and two unrecorded, containing ornamentation and other differences from the printed editions, written in dark brown ink by a professional English scribe, mainly for soprano voice and bass line on five two-stave systems per page (some from Alcina on five-stave systems), trills and other decorations added by the scribe throughout, orchestral cues notated on the vocal staves (marked "Sym[phony]"), twelve numbers transposed, the word underlay occasionally different; twenty-four da capo arias from Alessandro (3), Siroe (6), Flavio, Admeto, Partenope (2), Tolomeo, Lotario and Alcina, the original singers named (Sigra Faustina, Sigra Cuzzoni) and two apparently unrecorded arias, 'Soffriro tormenti e pene per salvarvi' and 'Talor di frescha brina' [sic], attributed to Handel by the scribe.
Physical Description1 item
Alphabetical files of correspondence between Handel scholar and collector James S. Hall and various performers, composers, conductors, and other Handel scholars and collectors of his day.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Includes drafts, notes and correspondence, arranged in order of importance, relating to James Hall's research on Handel's Latin Church music, Handel's use of grace notes, and biographical topics such as Handel's publisher, Handel's musical instruments, and the time Handel spent in Salisbury and Bath. Also included are correspondence, notes and documents relating to the standard edition in German of Handel's works, the Hallesche Handelausgabe.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description2 boxes
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Includes two copies of the October 1955 issue of Country Life, which carried an article by Hall entitled "Collecting Old Music," followed by fan mail relating to this article, and subject files, arranged in order of importance, relating to Hall's collecting activity, particularly with regard to Handel's oratorios.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Includes files of the activities of the Deal and Walmer Handelian Society, founded by Hall in 1946, arranged by event, followed by files on other such societies, including one in Brisbane, Australia. Following the files on Handel societies is material on East German Handel festivals. At the end of the series is a box of commemorative medals, minted for various anniversaries and festivals in honor of the composer.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Includes Victor Schoelcher's four-volume typescript catalog of Handel's works; prints and engravings of the city views and churches where Handel was active, as well as reproductions of portraits of the composer; facsimile reproductions of parts of Handel manuscripts; an original watercolor by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, showing a performance of a Handel oratorio at Convent Garden before its 1808 fire; an original issue of the 1759 London Chronicle that ran a description of Handel's burial in Westminster Abbey; a sample of the X-ray film boxes in which Hall preserved his files and sent them to the Library; a typescript survey of the Aylesford Manuscripts by James S. Hall; and a microfilm of Hall's copy of the 1760 Walsh imprint of the Six Concertos for Harpsichord or Organ.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Contains facsimiles of the wills, codicils, and probate papers of George Frideric Handel, John Christopher Smith (junior and senior), and John Walsh (junior and senior).
Physical Description1 folder
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James Hall's published memoirs of his activity as a lifeboat doctor during World War II and afterwards, Sea Surgeon, Pain Pocket Edition, 1968.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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