Verdi, Giuseppe. (1813-1901). Ernani dramma lirico in quattro parti. First Edition [Vocal Score]. Milan: Giovanni Ricordi. 1844. First edition, first issue. Oblong folio. Title, vb. Indice, verso Personaggi - Attori. Music, pp. 3-56; Blank [56]; Music, pp. 57 - 229; Blank [230]. Title within a blue printed border, cast list with original singers, engraved music. [PN] 16221 - 16241. Early marbled boards, half brown leather. Some worming to margins, outside of the plate and thus never affecting the notation, and affecting primarily the first half of the pages. One page (final page, 229) torn and repaired from blank verso without losses. Overall, a good and clean copy of this scarce score. Hopkinson 41 A (a).

Ernani was one of the greatest of Verdis early successes and the opera which established his dominant position in Italian opera. This copy is the earliest issue of the first edition, recording the Paris agent as France Musicale (they were later replaced by the Escudiers). The plate numbers include twelve sets of initials representing the engravers (as does the Fuld copy V16, although there are slight differences): eleven are recorded in the critical report for the complete edition (Ernani, Chicago and Milan, 1985, page 10). The copy bears no blind-stamps or corner-dates.