Messiah An Oratorio in Score.

HANDEL, George Frideric.

Item Number: 143841

London: Randall & Abell, c.1767.

Rare first edition, third issue of this classic work. Quarto, bound in full diced morocco, raised bands, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front and rear panels, marbled endpapers, 3 leaves, 188 and 35 pages, printed subscribers’ list and index, engraved music. In very good condition, worming to margins, damp-staining to lower outer corner of a few leaves, small paper loss to lower outer corner of pages 93-94. First editions are rare.

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel. The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.