Three volumes. Folio. Modern paper wrappers with part names printed to upper outer corners. Traversa/Violino Primo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-25, [i] (blank) pp. Violino Secondo: [i] (blank), 2-16, [i] (blank), 17-19 pp. Violoncello e Cimbalo: 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] (blank), 2-6, [i] (blank), 8-11, [i] (blank). 13-22 Occasional early minor annotations in both pencil and ink; ownership inscription to titles. Wrappers slightly soiled. Some light browning; a number of outer margins trimmed, just touching staff lines; most leaves discreetly reinforced with narrow strip of tape to gutter; paper repair to lower margin of final leaf of first violin part; loss to upper outer corner of title to bass part, not affecting text. First Edition, third (or possibly second) issue. Smith p. 244, no. 3 (no copies of the second issue located). BUC p. 442. RISM H1347 and HH1347. "Handel's chamber music consists almost entirely of solo sonatas and trio sonatas, but defining the exact canon is difficult because of the odd circumstances of the earliest publications; there are also problems of attribution. . A set of six trio sonatas . were published about 1730 with the false imprint of Jeanne Roger, but the issue was in fact the work of Walsh, who shortly afterwards published revised versions under his own imprint. The purpose of this deceit remains unexplained, though it may have been designed to force Handel into allowing the music to appear. . The trio sonatas also follow the sonata da chiesa form. Autographs of the op.2 set are lacking, and so their dates have to be guessed from their style and relationship to other works. According to a note made by Charles Jennens, no.2 in G minor was 'compos'd at the age of 14', and certainly appears to be a very early work, but if the age cited (presumably from a comment by Handel himself) has the same degree of error as the ages mentioned in Mainwaring's Memoirs, a date of about 1703 is more likely, especially as the music is indebted to Bononcini's Cefalo of 1702. The other op.2 sonatas have relationships with works of the Cannons period (1717-18) and were probably composed or reworked shortly afterwards." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online A lifetime first edition of Handel's Op. 2 trio sonatas in the Corellian style, elegantly engraved.
