9/1/24, 16:23 Music dealers and antiquarians | Grove Music

Music dealers and antiquarians

Lenore Coral

https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.19435
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001

The study of the retail distribution of music, both in and out of print, has been largely untouched by the
music historian. Few of the major studies on important music publishers have mentioned the methods
used to distribute their publications to the public.

1. Music dealers and collectors to 1800.

From the beginning, music dealers were inseparably linked with the music publishers. The manuscript
scriptorium and the early printing house each served as the distributor for the goods that it produced. By
the early 16th century an international web united the book trade of Europe, so that many of the publisher-
dealers in the major centres strove to have an international selection subject to the vagaries of politics and
the difficulties of transport. Moreover, in order to sell the average impression of 1000 copies, it was
necessary for the 16th-century printer to arrange for the export of his publications. The international book
fairs held first at Lyons and Frankfurt and later at Leipzig provided opportunities for this. The fair
catalogues, the earliest trade bibliographies, were doubtless as useful to dealers then as such catalogues
are today. In addition many publishers must have issued their own lists in an effort to distribute their
publications. Unfortunately none survives earlier than the two catalogues of Giacomo Vincenti and
Gardano issued in Venice in 1591.

If the printer and the publisher were but rarely separable in the first century of printing, the publisher and
the dealer never were. The 17th century maintained this tradition. The one important development was an
ever-increasing stock of other publishers’ issues available for sale at any publisher-dealer’s shop. Foreign
imprints on sale often reflected political alliances; for instance, the great book fairs of Leipzig and
Frankfurt did not have as much influence on the music available in the London shop of John Walsh as the
strong English trade ties with Amsterdam. One method used for financing publication was to sell shares in
the enterprise; this also served as an aid for the distribution of books to dealers, although usually on a
fairly local level. Several publisher-dealers would subscribe and on publication receive a proportional
number of copies. Music was also sold on subscription to private individuals. This method of distribution
also served as a means of financing the publication. The benefit to the subscriber lay in the lower price he
paid. This marketing method was fairly common in England in the early 1700s and in Germany in the latter
part of the 18th century.

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Generally speaking, until the end of the 17th century dealers had only new publications for sale. Little
antiquarian interest was expressed by music collectors. One should not, however, discount the role
collectors played in influencing the direction of publishing and selling. Surely such avaricious acquisitors
as Fernando Colón, João IV of Portugal, Johann Heinrich Herwart and later Samuel Pepys could not have
amassed such rich collections without the assistance of music dealers. But they usually collected
contemporary music. A few retrospective bibliographies were issued. La libraria (1550/51) by
Antonfrancesco Doni and Andrew Maunsell’s Seconde Parte of the Catalogue of English Printed Books (1595)
both contain lists of music publications. In 1592 Georg Willer published a list of the music publications of
the preceding 28 years. Georg Draudius issued two similar catalogues in 1611 and 1625 in which all of the
titles have been translated into Latin, causing considerable confusion to successive generations of
bibliographers. In 1653 John Playford (i) ( see Playford family (1)) published A Catalogue of All the Musick
Bookes … Printed in England, a list which contains most of the major publications of the first half of the
century.

Evidence of interest in antiquarian music, that is, out-of-print or generally unavailable items, can be
observed among collectors of the 18th century. Charles Burney, the intrepid traveller and music historian,
often commented in the diary of his journey on the problems of seeking out the rare and unusual
publication. Burney also admitted to a book collector’s vice: ‘I went into la rue St Jacques (a long street
filled with booksellers) not so much to purchase books as to collect catalogues to examine at my leisure’.
He also remarked on the lack of specialized music dealers in towns that had no music publishers, a
confirmation of the link between these two trades. But specialists in music were certainly not the only
suppliers with whom Burney dealt, for he found ‘old authors on the subject of music … and as to the new, I
met with many that I was unable to find elsewhere’, in the shops of the general booksellers of Venice.

Burney also found in Italy another collector who shared his interest in the historical: Padre Giovanni
Battista Martini . Documents in Martini’s library reveal many of the problems and practices of the collector
in the 18th century. His friends were always on the lookout for items that might interest him, even those
who lived in other countries, such as the German music historian and collector Martin, Freiherr von
Hornau Gerbert . On one occasion Martini exchanged copies of his own publications for a collection of
some now invaluable Petrucci prints.

2. Auction and trade catalogues to 1800.

Begun in its modern form in Holland in the late 16th century, the book auction had spread to France,
England and northern Germany by the end of the 17th century. It is one of the earliest indications of a
developing historical awareness of books. Auction sales devoted exclusively to musical items have always
been very rare, but those that have occurred have often been important. One of the earliest was an
anonymous sale held at Dewing’s Coffee-House, London, on 17 December 1691. The catalogue (GB-Lbl)
contains a listing of an astonishing anonymously assembled collection of music, much of it Italian and
mostly dating from the early decades of the 17th century.

Auction sales were not popular with all dealers. Henry Playford had already abandoned this method by the
time of the Dewing sale, for he remarked on the title-page of his 1690 catalogue that this collection was:

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formerly designed to have been sold by way of Auction but the Reason of its being put off was,
That several Gentlemen, Lovers of Musick living remote from London, having a desire for some of
this Collection and could not be there, they are here set down in Order, with the Rates, being lower
than could be afforded otherwise.

Playford’s reasons are rather curious; many of his contemporaries dealt with the problem of out-of-town
clients by providing bidding agents in the manner still employed in the sales room today. Furthermore,
increased prices could only benefit the seller. Playford did not entirely divorce himself from the auction
room. An advertisement for one of his new publications appeared at the end of the Dewing sale catalogue
and his name was often among those dealers from whom copies of catalogues were available before an
auction sale.

Burney’s compatriot, collector and rival historian John Hawkins preserved several other catalogues; for
example, in the General History he reproduced the contents of the catalogue for the Thomas Britton sale
(6–8 December 1714; the original catalogue was presumably destroyed in the fire in Hawkins’s library in
1785). Britton was considered an extraordinary man by his contemporaries. According to Hawkins, he was
a friend of John Bagford, the 17th-century amasser of an important collection of materials on the history
of printing (now in GB-Lbl). Together they agreed to try to salvage any old manuscripts that they found.
Britton’s large music collection reflects very clearly the programmes of chamber music performed at the
musical concerts that he sponsored.

The music retail trade also developed. Publishers recognized a growing market for tunes from operas and
for chamber music and keyboard works of various kinds which could be played in the home. The selling of
this material remained largely in the domain of the publisher-dealer, but he expanded his shop and
improved his catalogues to assist the prospective buyer in making his selection. The justly famous
Breitkopf catalogues underscore the vastness of some publisher-dealers’ undertakings. The attention that
Breitkopf paid to publication details and the large stock of scores available in manuscript copies indicate
his intention to reach a larger clientèle than just the musically inclined population of Leipzig. A foreign
audience may also help to explain his introduction of thematic incipits into these lists.

Breitkopf was not alone in issuing catalogues. Most of those issued by other dealers are not thematic and
many reflect an appeal to a local clientèle. The Leuckart catalogues are excellent examples. They contain a
repertory consisting mainly of printed chamber music published in northern and central Europe, in
contrast to the Breitkopf lists, which often include imprints from more distant English and Parisian
publishers. In German-speaking lands in the late 18th century there is evidence, particularly in newspaper
advertisements and subscription lists, of musicians functioning as part-time music dealers: for example,
some subscription lists in works by C.P.E. Bach indicate composers purchasing multiple copies, which
usually means that they intended to resell them. Another example is the catalogue of the composer,
publisher and dealer J.J. Hummel.

Trade relationships between publishers expanded the availability of music publications throughout Europe
and into North America. Lack of international copyright conventions meant that in order to protect works
from piracy they had to be published simultaneously in each country. Agents, such as Probst, in other cities
often worked on behalf of publishers to identify promising new works they might wish to add to their
catalogues.

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The non-thematic catalogues, whether French, English or German, often closely resemble the Leipzig
book fair catalogues of the time. The musical contents of these later Leipzig trade lists have not been
adequately investigated, nor has the role of these fairs in the dissemination of music been studied. Clearly
they are the direct forerunners of the important Whistling–Hofmeister series of classified trade
publications which served to alert dealers to new publications and today aid in the identification of 19th-
century music publications.

Another means of making music available to the public was the circulating library. Catalogues of their
collections began to appear in the late 18th century. Many of these enterprises were run by publishers,
some of whom charged an annual subscription fee which allowed the member to borrow a set amount of
material during the course of a year. There were penalties for overdue and damaged items and sometimes
rewards for fastidious borrowers. The catalogues tempted the subscribers with promises of new additions
to the stocks, some of which were quite substantial: one catalogue advertised upwards of 65,000 items.
This practice seems to have been fairly widespread and lasted into the early 20th century.

In mid-18th-century London, several firms of booksellers dealt largely in out-of-print materials. These
dealers, Osborne, Payne, Wagstaff and Evans, issued numerous long catalogues notable mostly for the
quantity of material amassed and for the uniformity and low level of the prices. Doubtless these sales
enriched the music collections of Pepusch, William Boyce and many others. The lack of specialized
catalogues and the evenness of the prices indicates that no true antiquarian market yet existed.

3. Music dealers and antiquarians after 1800.

The 19th century witnessed a developing interest in music both newly published and of earlier times. Sales
of pianos rose. Antiquarian interest manifested itself in the production of bibliographies and the rise of the
scientific study of music. It is hardly surprising that the period that witnessed the publication of the works
of Forkel, Coussemaker, Eitner and Fétis should have required specialized dealers. As the Romantic
movement found its first roots in Germany, so too did the first specific music antiquarian lists come from
there.

In the mid-19th century the character of auction and antiquarian bookdealers’ catalogues underwent a
transformation. The descriptions of items to be sold became more historical, and much more attention was
paid to detail. A number of German antiquarian dealers began to issue catalogues of music. Some of these
were published in conjunction with the dispersal of specific collections. The catalogue of the music
collection of A. Westrow compiled by the Berlin bookseller R. Friedländer & Sohn in 1853 is but one
example. Other dealers were issuing catalogues of composite collections: for instance, L.E. Lanz of
Weilberg issued a catalogue in 1854 entitled Verzeichnis einer Sammlung antiquarischer Musikwerke.

One of the most active firms was the house of List & Franke in Leipzig. Shortly after its founding it offered
for sale no fewer than five important German collections of music. The descriptive notes are in French
rather than German, highlighting the international attention paid to such sales. The use of French was not
unique to these German catalogues; indeed, many of the 18th-century English catalogues had French or
Latin prefaces. The same period witnessed the establishment of one of the most influential of all music
antiquarians, Leo Liepmannssohn . His firm, founded first in Paris in 1866, reopened in Berlin in 1874 and
under his successor, Otto Haas, ultimately moved to London where it still flourishes.

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In the early 19th century American music dealers opened their shops with a stock consisting mainly of
musical instruments and domestically published music. As in Europe most music dealers were also
publishers and some, instead of relying on postal orders, bravely opened retail outlets in several cities. The
Board of Music Trade of the USA, founded in 1855 and a precursor of the Music Publishers' Association of
America, was an organization dedicated to protecting the interests of American music publishing. It issued
a catalogue of publications (1870), intended as a tool for the teacher and the amateur as well as the dealer.
Music could also be found printed in the popular press and as inserts in magazines.

Most American music antiquarian firms were founded after World War II when the rapid growth of music
departments made university libraries a ready market for out-of-print materials. But the demand for some
titles soon exhausted the supply and today a dealer who formerly sold exclusively antiquarian material will
also stock reprints and current imprints; some have also entered the reprint field themselves. As in Europe
not all dealers having rare music materials restrict their trade exclusively to music.

The music trade continues to flourish, although the sale of both printed music and musical instruments
has been profoundly affected by the omnipresence of the sound recording. Where music played at the piano
used to provide access to favourite tunes and popular music, today this access is provided by recordings.
Publishing house outlets (some selling works issued by many publishers beside their own imprints) and
independent music shops co-exist. Imprints, published in one country but to be sold in another, are often
assigned to one publisher or dealer who functions as the distributor. Confusion is caused by a rapid
turnover in assignees. The implementation of the recently developed International Standard Music
Number may help the music trade to distribute music publications more efficiently.

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