Verdi, Giuseppe

comprising twelve lines of text, intended for the final scene of the opera, where it revealed by Montano and Emilia that Iago had stolen the handkerchief and passed it to Cassio to implicate him falsely, whereupon Otello confronts Iago and utters the famous line "Has Heaven no more thunderbolts!", an early version of the passage with considerable differences from Boito's final libretto, together with on the verso a draft of a letter about providing poor relief for the Comune of Polesina, which borders on Busseto, where Verdi lived

[Montano:] Rodrigo morente / svela...l'opere nefande.../ Li v'ingannava/ Desdemona è innocente
O[tello].  Ma il fazzoletto
E[milia]. Io lo trovai.  Iago me l'a rubò
C[assio].  E Iago il diede a me
O.  Parla...
I[ago]. Non interrogarmi
O. E il Ciel non ha più fulmini
L[odovico]. Al supplizio l'infame



2 pages, 8vo, no place or date, probably 1884-1885, creasing along central folds

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Unpublished: this is an unrecorded early draft for the climax of Otello, first performed in February 1887.  The genesis of the opera was protracted, but Verdi collaborated with the librettist Arrigo Boito from mid 1884 onwards.  This manuscript represents a very early, rough sketch of what Verdi envisaged for the final scene. It is not possible to know if it predates Arrigo Boito's original libretto, which is inaccessible. However, we know that, by October 1885, the text was already much more like that in the final version: see Verdi's transcription in the letter to Boito of 5 October 1885, in Hans Busch, Verdi's Otello and Simone Boccanegra in Letters and Documents, 2 volumes, (1988), p.181. The manuscript is written on the verso of an unrelated draft, and is thus an undeveloped sketch, never sent to Boito.