To: Petr Slouka <petr.slouka@lobkowicz.cz>
Date: October 31, 2023
From: nathanielmeyer1@gmail.com
Cc: Kathryn Libin <kalibin@vassar.edu>, Dita Baker <dita.baker@lobkowicz.cz>
Subject: Proposal for a Lobkowicz Edition

Petr Slouka, Ph.D.
October 31, 2023

Dear Dr. Slouka,

Thank you very much for your reply of October 24, 2023.  We are still very much interested in obtaining musical scores from which we can stage a performance of Cartellieries El Secreto.  We believe the copying, transcription and ultimate publication by the Lobkowicz Musical Library of all the musical scores in its archives in a series with a name such as "Lobkowicz Edition" would not only be of great musical cultural value but would also substantially enhance public awareness and understanding of the Lobkowicz tradition and might even provide significant financial returns to the Lobkowicz Musical Library.  We offer to try to facilitate such publication at no risk and no cost to Lobkowicz. 

Here is how we propose to proceed: Beginning with the scores to Cartellieri's Il Secreto, we offer to provide, in some room at your library, the services of a technician to photograph the pertinent manuscript pages individually by means of an electronic camera on a stand, with all equipment provided by us.  Our technician would also photograph any notes attached to the manuscripts as well as the envelopes in which the manuscripts had been preserved. The .png .jpg .jpeg or .pdf images would be transferred to SD Memory Cards or USB storage pods and/or transmitted to our computer servers directly, if Internet connection is available.

We are prepared to reimburse you on an hourly basis for the services of an assistant selected by you from your staff, who would be the only person handling the documents, who would sequentially remove the manuscripts from the boxes in which you have stored, then serially place and replace the documents to be photographed on the platform under the camera. At the rate, for example, of 6 documents per minute, all 605 manuscripts of Il Secreto could be photographed in one hour and 46 minutes. The photographing of notes and envelopes would require additional time.

Subsequent to the photography, we would examine the images, which would be available to you, to see whether they were legible and suitable for use in concert performances. We would then obtain consultation to ascertain whether artificial intelligence facilities were available to convert images of the manuscripts into printable musical scores or whether such conversions would have to be done manually. If we found such conversions economically feasible, we would provide you with computer files from which you could have printed musical scores which you could then offer for sale without having incurred any other costs for their production.

We will also provide you with an accounting of our production costs, but we ask you to reimburse us for only fifty percent of these costs and then only from net profits which you might have made from the sale of the scores.  With respect to all details of this proposed arrangement, which we believe to be of substantial benefit to both parties, we are open to negotiation.

With best wishes and warm regards,

Nathaniel Meyer