Giuseppe Tartini - Lettere e documenti / Pisma in dokumenti / Letters and Documents - Volume / Knjiga / Volume II

303 LETTERS 47. Tartini to G.V. Vannetti A long and serious illness afflicting my wife has hitherto interrupted the settlement of every debt of mine, and the first one, which I honour by means of letter, is the one I have with Your Most Illustrious Lordship. I firstly thank you as much as I know how and am able to for the sale obtained in Holland of the copies, when it was not down to Your Most Illustrious Lordship to have done it. But the fact is that this Monsieur della Coste shows from his reply and deal that he is either a complete beginner in his trade, or completely uninformed of the fact that I have had another work of mine for the solo violin 31 printed in Amsterdam by Michiel Charle [sic] Le Cène. From the fact that for thirty-six miserable copies he should want the deferral of six months to pay for them, and that out of the 24 asked for each copy he is willing to pay just 23, Your Most Illustrious Lordship can see better than I that these are all signs of what I mentioned above. And a well-established and learned Dutchman would not debase himself to such exhibitions and dealings; there is something cowardly about them which I too would be ashamed to show to just anyone. May then Your Most Illustrious Lordship consider whether I can or could ever negotiate with this man to allow him to print my things. With Monsieur Le Cène, without any reply whatsoever to letters, the deal of 72 Venetian zecchini for my twelve sonatas already printed for solo violin was made and concluded at the first proposal, with 50 copies for myself and the dedication to my profit and account; and when my manuscript sonatas were delivered to Pomer in Venice, at that same time the 72 zecchini were paid. The same identical deal I have just now made in Rome, 32 with just one difference in the sonatas, because if those already printed have been successful, I am quite sure that those which are being printed will be infinitely more so. Therefore, I have the necessity of entreating Your Most Illustrious Lordship again, to rewrite to this Monsieur della Coste, inform him exactly what Your Most Illustrious Lordship believes to be necessary, and tell him that in the present case one intends to give him a very great advantage by giving him the copies for 24 lira, but that this deal shall not be made if not for at least 50 copies, and for money paid immediately. If he agrees, good; if not, do please make sure that the print here in Italy shall not be placed on sale until, in advance, there is no certainty of the full sale of absolutely all the copies that are printed, so that the hope and the temptation of reprinting them is denied to whoever it may be. If, then, this Monsieur della Coste does not know me well enough, it does not take much trouble to be informed, i.e. with regard to the good opinion that is universally had throughout Europe for my compositions, among which the present work is the best. That I would 31 Sonate a violino e violoncello o cimbalo, dedicate a Sua Eccellenza il Sig. Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani da Giuseppe Tartini, Op. I , Amsterdam, at the Expense of Michele Carlo Le Cène, 1734. 32 For the printing of the Sonate a violino e basso, dedicate al S. Giuseppe Fegeri, di Giuseppe Tartini , Op. II , Rome, Antonio Cleton, 1745.