Some British Collectors of Music, c. 1600-1960. [ The Sandars Lectures for 1961 ]

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, first edition, 1963. Cloth, 4to, 26 cm,. 177 pp, ills. From the blurb: " "In the course of four lectures Mr King describes the interests and activities of nearly two hundred [British music] collectors. He gives details of the rare or interesting items owned by each, and in doing so says something of the character and purpose of collecting in different periods. His researches into the transmission and location of manuscripts and rare printed items (through sale- catalogues, manuscript or printed catalogues, library indexes, signatures on fly leaves and title- pages, labels on bindings, etc.) carry us through an absorbing range of musical topics, and reveal a remarkable breadth of taste and interest among amateur collectors. To the lectures themselves Mr King adds two appendices: the first describes British royal collectors of music and identifies for the first time the work and personality of Frederick Nicolay, Queen Charlotte's music librarian; and the second presents a full chronological list of collectors (about three hundred names altogether, many unknown or hardly known hitherto), with details of location of sale-catalogues and of collections preserved intact. All this is virtually unexplored country. The earliest 'musico-cartographers', as Mr King calls them, were the auctioneers. They sketched the map in its roughest outlines. Now, in this authoritative survey, Mr King enlarges the scale and fills in the details. Booklabel of the bibliophile A R A Hobson on front pastedown endpaper, Very Good in a used dustwrapper which is torn on the top edge of the rear panel and a little chipped.