83 BAUMAN RARE BOOKS As the manuscript of these trios is lost, the first edition is the primary source. After his first trip to Vienna in 1787, Beethoven returned to the Austrian capital in the early 1790s to study with Joseph Haydn. In March 1795 he had his public debut in a concert at the Burgtheater, where he performed his Concerto in C (or possibly his Concerto in B flat). “He was now well and truly in the public eye, and shortly afterwards began making arrangements for the publication of his Opus 1. This was a set of piano trios, to be dedicated to his patron Prince Lichnowsky and published by subscription, with the printing done by the leading Viennese firm of Artaria” (Cooper, 55-56). Although Beethoven did publish a few other works in the previous two years, they were fairly insubstantial works, often based on the work of other composers (as in the “Se vuol ballare” Variations, WoO 40, based on the Marriage of Figaro aria). The first edition is remarkably scarce: this is apparently the only copy that has appeared on the market in the last thirty years. Engraved title page with some marginal restoration. Marginal staining to plates, but still quite fresh and readable. An extraordinary rarity.
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