A - Autograph

Autograph

Autograph intended as a basis for the first French edition.

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FC - Fontana's Copy

Fontana's Copy

Fontana's copy intended as a basis for the first German edition.

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FE - French edition

French edition

Maurice Schlesinger, Paris, plate number M S 2427:
FE1 – First French edition, X 1837,
FE2 – corrected impression of FE1, probably 1838-1842.

Henry Lemoine, Paris, from XII 1842, plate number 2776. HL.:
FE3 = FE2 with changed cover and plate number.

Pupil's copy with annotations originating from Chopin:
FED – Camille O'Méara-Dubois FE3 copy.
Two pupil's copies, in this Etude without annotations:
FEJ – Ludwika Jędrzejewicz FE3 copy,
FES – Jane Stirling FE3 copy.

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GE - German edition

German edition

Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, plate number 5832:
GE1 – First German edition, X 1837,
GE1a – Corrected impression of GE1, probably soon afterwards,
GE1b – Flawed impression of GE1, 1848-1855,
GE2 – Second German edition, ca. 1855, 
GE3 – Later impression of GE2.

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EE - English edition

English edition

Wessel & Co, London, plate number (W & Co. No. 1832).
EE1 – First English edition, X 1837,
EE2 – Corrected impression of EE1, before 1840,
EE3 – Revised impression of EE2, ca 1858.

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Filiation of the sources

                            

The basis for the three first editions (FEGE and EE) prepared by Chopin consisted most probably of a collection of 36 manuscripts (three sets with twelve manuscripts each), encompassing the autograph (A) and presumably two copies of each of the twelve etudes. The copyists were Julian Fontana and Adolphe Gutmann. Extant manuscripts of this collection include three autographs (Etudes no. 1, 4 and 8), six copies by Gutmann (Etudes no. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 and 11) and four copies by Fontana (Etudes no. 4, 5, 6 and 12). For each Etude the autograph Stichvorlage was used as a model for one copy; the other one could be based on A as well, or on the already prepared copy, possibly checked and amended by Chopin. A comparison of the sources shows that in completed manuscripts (both autographs and copies) Chopin made improvements and supplements prior to their presentation to the publishers. The majority of the changes coincide or supplement each other; the differences can be explained by their sometimes hurried introduction in different periods. The extant complete set intended for GE includes two autographs and ten copies, while only an autograph of a single Etude is extant from the set intended for FE. Not a single manuscript survived from the set intended for EE. In this situation it is possible to determine the chronology of the changes only in a few cases. We accept as the basis of every Etude an authentic source (manuscript or first edition corrected by Chopin) prepared by the composer with greatest care, and compared with the others, with particular attention paid to the corrections of FE made by Chopin.

Principles behind the main text of
the Etude in A minor Op. 25 No. 4

We accept as our basis FC compared with AFE and EE, and take into consideration the rather obvious correction of a printing error, written into FED.