In 1977, to coincide with the 150th Death Anniversary of Beethoven, Deutsche Grammophon released a signed deluxe limited edition boxed set of the new Karajan cycle of the Beethoven symphonies.
The eight LPs were in a leather bound box together with a bonus LP which contained the soundtrack of filmed interviews Karajan had made with Richard Osborne (in English) and Joachim Kaiser (in German).
A large booklet in the appropriate language and an LP sized certificate were also included as well as a 24"x12" poster of Karajan.
These boxed sets were issued to various markets including
Austria 200 copies
Canada 500 copies
Germany (West) 1,200 copies
Great Britain 2,000 copies
Italy 2,000 copies
U.S.A. 1,000 copies
The English language wording on the certificate for Great Britain is as follows:
"Special limited edition, individually numbered,
of the new recording of
Ludwig van Beethoven's Nine Symphonies
with Herbert von Karajan conducting
the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recorded in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall
for the Beethoven Year 1977.
2,000 copies
of this edition were prepared especially
for Great Britain
This copy bears the number ___"
Note: the editions for Canada were bilingual in both English and French with the English wording precisely the same as for the British market as shown above.
The English language wording on the certificate for the U.S.A. is as follows:
"Special limited edition, individually numbered
and signed, of the new complete recording of
Ludwig van Beethoven's Nine Symphonies
with Herbert von Karajan conducting the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recorded in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall
for the Beethoven Year 1977.
1,000 copies
of the edition were prepared especially
for the United States of America
This copy bears the number ___"
Note: the edition for the U.S.A. market makes a precise reference to the signing of the certificate.
Detailed photographs of the Austrian boxed set I own are shown below but, as with many sets which come on the market, the poster is missing.
