Autograph letter from the important composer to Édouard Thierry ("Mon cher Thierry"), correspondent at the journal Le Messager.  1 p., 8vo. (approx. 13 x 20.5 cm). "Lundi 12" [Paris] [1843]. Regarding the publication by subscription of his "Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes" op. 10. Translated in part: "Do me the service to write in your next paper, a column on the attached Treaty of Instrumentation, announcing that that the subscription opened at the Publisher will be closed on March 15. I have a very great interest in arriving before this time at a designated number of subscribers..."  ["Rendez moi le service de faire dans votre prochain feuilleton une colonne sur le traité ci joint d’Instrumentation en annoncant que la souscription ouverte chez l’Editeur sera fermée le 15 mars. J’ai un très grand intérèt à arriver avant cette époque à un nombre designé de souscripteur."]  Nicely matted and framed, in fine condition, unexamined out of frame. 

Berlioz’s Grand Traité d’Instrumentation et d’Orchestration Modernes was first published in 1843/4 then reissued in 1855 in a revised and enlarged edition. It remains a landmark in the history of the symphony orchestra, and though there have been numerous technical improvements in the manufacture and playing of instruments since the composer’s time, especially concerning wind and brass instruments, the work still retains much of its value. It is a historical document on instrumental practice in the time of Berlioz, and also provides a commentary on Berlioz’s own use of the orchestra.