Hardcover 8vo. 406 pp. Inscribed on the blank verso of the front decorative flyleaf by the important Romantic pianist and composer: "Der lieben Freundin / Betti Oser / als Weihnachtsgruß / von / Clara Schumann. / Dec. 1886" ["To dear friend / Betti Oser / as a Christmas greeting / by / Clara Schumann. / Dec. 1886." Dark green original black and gilt stamped embossed green cloth boards, very lightly rubbed and otherwise fine; ffe lacking, else fine. An intriguing copy of this volume of 90 letters of Robert Schumann, inscribed by Clara to an important student and friend. 

Betty Oser’s sister-in-law was Josefine Wittgenstein, a member of one of Vienna’s most important families, a singer with a beautiful voice who with her husband Johann Oser, a scientist and distinguished professor at the Technische Hochschule, was on excellent terms with Brahms, as was Clara Schumann, who stayed with them on several occasions when she gave concerts in Vienna. Johann Oser's sister Betty, the recipient of the present volume, had studied piano with Clara and became a close friend. Brahms knew Betty very well, and there are repeated references to her in the Brahms-Clara Schumann correspondence.