DELAUNAY, Charles. Hot Discography. 1938 Edition. Paris: Jazz Hot, 1938.

Extensively signed by many of the leading lights of the Ellington and Basie orchestras, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Lester Young, the autographs acquired by young jazz aficionado William Lawson “Bud” O’Donnell of Massachusetts, most likely when both the Ellington and Basie bands visited Boston in the late 1930s/early 1940s. Ellington played an extended residency at the Ritz Carlton Hotel from July to August 1939 and at the Southland Café in January 1940, after which Count Basie and his Orchestra took over for a four week residency in February. O’Donnell was killed in a mid-air collision aged just 22 in January 1944 while serving as a 2^nd lieutenant with the 346^th Combat Crew Training Squadron. Provenance: William Lawson “Bud” O’Donnell (ownership inscription to front free endpaper).

Octavo (195 x 130 mm). Rebound in 1940 by the U. Holzer bindery of Boston, Mass., in dark blue cloth with gilt spine, original wrappers preserved. Loosely inserted indexing sheet identifying location of autographs.

[With:] – Hot Discography. New York, 1940. First US edition from the 1938 Paris first edition. Signed and inscribed to Chicagoan jazz fan Morris Jones by jazz notables including three Duke Ellington band members.

[And:] a sketchbook Personnages Principaux du Bar, c.1937, containing five pages of original pencil and pastel illustrations with accompanying captions in French, forming a playful promotional guide to the essential personnel required for running a successful bar in Paris in the late 1930s, the first and foremost being ‘un très bon pianiste nêgre’ along with ‘2 barmaids’ and ‘2 ou 3 nêgresses à laisser vagabonder dans le bar’, followed by various suggested artists to liven up the evening ‘acteurs animant la soirée ou la nuit’ including singer and character actor Yves Deniaud, Italian gypsy guitarist Enrico Crolla, a young trio led by actor Guy Decomble, and Henri Leduc, described as the ‘personnage comique indispensable à l’atmosphère’, the final caption concluding ‘We can find for you… absolutely everything that you could possibly need (elephants – naked ladies – non naked ladies – bus – etc.etc. whales)’. Quarto sketchbook in original card wraps, 305 x 235 mm.