Rare Chopin Document Up For Auction

As evidenced by the demand for a signed one-page document up for auction, the popularity of legendary Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin shows no signs of abating.

Dated March 1840, the document is for the sale of copyrights for Chopin's Grande Valse brillante Opus 42 and Quatre Mazurkas, Op. 41. They were sold his publisher for £16.

Original estimates placed the value of the document at around $10 - 15,000 [£6381 - 9528] but as of Monday, June 18, bidding had reached $25,000 [£15880].

"Anything from Chopin is extremely rare to see, and then to have it mention significant works makes it extremely valuable," said Bobby Livingston, vice president of RR Auction of New-Hampshire.

Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 42, was written in 1840 and Op. 41 was written between 1838 and 1840 while he was recovering from a tubercular infection.