Copyist's score for "Before I Met You" from Oh, Lady! Lady!!

WODEHOUSE, P. G., & Jerome Kern.

Published by [New York: 1918]

About this Item

The complete 58-bar song, prepared for publication by T. B. Harms Company, together with musical engraver's marks and details of publication number ("43-4") added in red pencil. Sung in the second act of the musical by the romantic lead characters of Bill Finch and Mollie Farrington, this was one of 14 musical numbers in the show. Oh, Lady! Lady!!, book by Guy Bolton and Wodehouse, had its premiere on 1 February 1918 at the Princess Theatre, Broadway, and was another success for the Bolton-Kern-Wodehouse creative troika, the run extending to 219 performances. The show was optioned by Adolph Zukor for Realart Pictures in 1920 and turned into a vehicle for Bebe Daniels, described as "Wodehouse's personal favourite" among screen adaptations (Taves, p. 12). Plum later adapted the book for his 1927 novel The Small Bachelor. Another hand has added publication details for the music engraver ("Lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse", copyright information, etc.), and there also appears to be a request to hurry the job through ("Be one great rush"). On a sixth page appears to be 27 bars of an oboe part for a song "Who Do You Love". Brian Taves, P. G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires and Adaptations, 2006. Quarto (305 x 230 mm), 3 leaves of double-sided 12-stave paper with "Melodie No 11" trade mark motif, first two sheets joined at left edge, 5 pages. Light lateral creasing in a few places, lightly toned, couple of stab holes at head.

Seller Inventory # 132291

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Copyist's score for "Before I Met You" from Oh, Lady! Lady!!
• Publisher: [New York: 1918]
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)