An extremely rare invitation to the opening night of the Beatles historic 18 day series of concerts in at the Paris Olympia,  January 16, 1964.  The Beatles co-headlined this series of dates with Trini Lopez and French superstar Sylvie Vartan.   We know of no other example of this extraordinary  letterpress-printed invitation.

Sent out by Olympia owner Bruno Coquatrix, the invitation(in French) translates as follows-

Bruno Coquatrix asks to please kindly honor him with your presence at the Gala Generale for his new show at the Olympia Thursday, January 16, 1964.  Important – To allow us to send you definitive seats, return the enclosed response card, by return mail.

Beatles author and expert Mark Lewisohn notes in The Complete Beatles Chronicle this engagement was “18 days of two, sometimes three shows each, on a nine-act bill.  At no time was it made clear who was the headliner…”  During their time in Paris, The Beatles recorded “Can’t Buy Me Love” and the German language version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand”) at Pathe Marconi Studios.  Three days after finishing their Paris engagement, The Beatles arrived in America for the first time.

The invitation measures 5” x 6 1/4” (closed) and is beautifully printed in letterpress, with embossing to the front.  Mark Lewisohn was unaware of its existence until we sent him scans of this example.  An extraordinary Beatles rarity.