Makers of the piano

Makers of the Piano Volume 2: 1820-1860 continues the overview of early pianos begun in Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 (OUP, 1993). Although a few of the biographies overlap, the majority of the makers are completely new. Approximately 2,400 makers and manufacturers and about 2,200 pianos are listed in this book. Of this total, about 645 are English, the majority of whom were active in London; more than 200 of the London makers have not been discussed in previous publications. In addition to British makers, several hundred others have not before been catalogued in English. This group includes makers active in nineteenth-century Hungary, Austria, major German cities, Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Canada, and the United States. Particularly useful is an appendix prepared by John R. Watson of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia of detailed drawings of the major types of instrument styles discussed in the main text itself.