William Andrews Clark, Jr. not only was a bibliophile, he founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsidized the first fifteen years of its existence.  Reflecting Clark’s tastes, the Library owns an important collection of printed music published in Britain dating from about 1680 to 1810.  The jewel of this collection is the compositions of George Frederick Handel in over one hundred first and very early editions.  Not even the Henry Huntington Library possesses scores in such numbers or extraordinary quality!  Other important composers are also part of the Clark’s collections, including Scarlatti, Haydn, Gasparini, Arne, and significantly, Pepusch, with the Library owning more than twenty editions of his Beggar’s Opera.

To learn more about our Handel collections, please visit a new web exhibition, created by Evan Baker, recent UCLA MLIS graduate and stalwart volunteer!  Thank you, Evan!