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Lerner & Loewe Song Book, The
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962. Item #06690
“Coals to Newcastle”
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe Present Their Songbook to Leslie and Evie Bricusse
Two Intimate Association Copies from the Golden Age of Broadway
LERNER, Alan Jay[&] LOEWE, Frederick. The Lerner & Loewe Song Book. Music edited by Dr. Albert Sirmay. Commentary by Scott Sullivan. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962.
Two Copies. Large quarto (12 1/16 x 9 1/8 inches; 306 x 232 mm.). Musical notation and photogravure illustrations throughout.
Publisher’s original black cloth over boards, front covers decoratively stamped in lilac and orange and lettered in gilt, spines lettered in orange, gilt, and silver. Both in the original color pictorial dust jackets, each with a few small chips and minor wear at extremities, but overall unusually fresh and well preserved examples.
A remarkable pair of association copies presented separately by both halves of the legendary Lerner & Loewe partnership to Leslie Bricusse and Yvonne Romaine (“Evie”), preserving a warm and highly personal record of friendship among some of the greatest creators in twentieth-century musical theater.
I. The Alan Jay Lerner Copy: First edition, third printing. Inscribed by Alan Jay Lerner on the front free endpaper: “Dear, dear Leslie — Coals to Newcastle — with affection and admiration — Alan”
Affixed to the front pastedown is a fine original 10 x 8 inch photographic portrait of Lerner, signed by him in blue ink.
Also loosely inserted is a charming color-printed Christmas card from Alan and Liz Lerner, printed:
“With every good wish for Christmas and the New Year Liz and Alan Lerner”
with Lerner humorously crossing through the printed surname “Lerner” and adding in blue ink: “Much love!”
Lerner’s wonderfully apt phrase “Coals to Newcastle” - meaning the bringing of something to a place already famous for it — is especially delightful here, humorously acknowledging the presentation of a songbook to a fellow master lyricist and composer.
II. The Frederick Loewe Copy: First edition, third printing. Inscribed by Frederick Loewe on the front free endpaper: “To Leslie and Evie with warmest love Frederick Loewe” beneath which Loewe has added a flourish of original musical notation in his hand.
Affixed to the front pastedown is an original candid color photograph depicting Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner together with Leslie Bricusse and his son Adam Bricusse aboard a yacht in the South of France - a wonderfully informal and intimate image capturing the friendship between these towering figures of Broadway and Hollywood musical history.
Together, these volumes form an extraordinary dual-association archive linking two generations of musical theater royalty. Lerner and Loewe, creators of such immortal works as My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gigi, Brigadoon, and Paint Your Wagon, stood at the summit of the golden age of the American musical. Their evident affection for Leslie Bricusse - himself later celebrated for Goldfinger, Doctor Dolittle, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory - beautifully documents the continuity of that tradition across generations.
Far more than signed books, these are deeply personal association copies preserving genuine friendship and artistic admiration among the architects of modern musical theater. The inscriptions, signed portrait, Christmas greeting, original musical notation, and candid family photograph together transform the pair into a miniature archive from the most sophisticated circle of Broadway and Hollywood songwriting.
An exceptional and highly evocative theatrical association set from the golden age of the American musical.
Price: $9,500.00