"Dix variations sur un air italiens composée et dediee a Madame Grassé par D. Steibelt maître de chapelle de S.M. L'Empereur [Tsar Alexander I]".

Obl. 18mo, 13 x 19,5 cm: title, [18] ff., several bl. ff., brown ink on paper in various colours decorated with an embossed frame with a frieze and shell motif in the corners (sl. discolouration, occ. spotting, 2 ff. loose).

Contemp. green long-grained shagreen, gilt roll frame on boards, gilded brass decorated plate and clasp with inscription "PRE/ CIEUX" on clasp-plates, gilt-orn. flat spine, a.e.g. (min. rubbing on joints and corners). Very nice condition.

Very fine piano score (copy) by the German composer and pianist Steibelt (Berlin 1765-1823 St Petersburg), a highly acclaimed virtuoso in Paris, London and the major European capitals. "Steibelt was one of many European musicians lured to Russia by generous offers from the government of Alexander I in the first decade of the 19th century" (Grove). Established in Saint Petersburg since 1809, he was succeeding Boieldieu as director of the imperial theater in 1811.
Ref. Dawes, F., Hagberg, K., & Lindeman, S. - Steibelt, Daniel. In: Grove Music Online (2001).