Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zur Sinfonie Nr. 7 op. 92, 2. und 4. Satz, Autograph

How stitch holes can furnish proof

Here you can see an autograph sketch leaf, which was once part of a sketchbook. The so-called Petter Sketchbook (HCB Mh 59) with its 74 leaves is today still almost complete. Several leaves were, however, removed after Beethoven's death and were passed on to others. Was the bifolium shown here once part of the Petter Sketchbook? Most of the sketches in this book are for the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. As the bifolium shown here contains sketches for the Seventh Symphony, it could belong to Petter as far as the content is concerned. Outward appearances can prove without a doubt that this sketch leaf originally belonged to Petter and was later removed. The Petter Sketchbook has a characteristic watermark, which is seldom to be found in Beethoven's papers. It is also to be found on the bifolium: an anchor with the letters IAV. More important for the identification are, however, the stitch holes. Gustav Adolf Petter, who owned the sketchbook for a time, had it re-bound. This new binding joined the pages through the middle fold. Yet the pages must have been bound in Beethoven's time. This is shown by ink blots made on one page which are exactly reproduced on the opposite one. (And had it not been bound, the book would have fallen apart, which is obviously not the case.) This old binding was not along the fold like the newer one. Instead two holes were made in the margin about one centimetre from the fold and 16,5 cm apart, through which thread was to be drawn. The measurements of the two holes and the distance between them allow single leaves to be easily assigned to a miscellany. Our sketch leaf clearly bears the corresponding holes, as do all the single leaves which were later removed. The content of the sketches also enables us to assign the precise position of the leaf in the Petter Sketchbook during Beethoven's lifetime: between the present leaves 29 and 30. (J.R.)