Special Collections / Music Treatises

RISM B/VI, v. 1, p. 216. Like Agricola, Cerreto presented musica instrumentalis as an important complement of the human voice in practical music. Familiar with Glarean’s work, Cerreto nevertheless resisted his twelve-mode system for the traditional eight.

Translation of the German work, Musicale instrumentum reformatum. Heiden describes his invention of the Geigenwerk, a bowed keyboard instrument.

This work was the first significant treatise on music in the English language. First published in 1597, new editions were produced in 1608 and 1771.

This work considers the history of bells, including their functions in church and in secular society.

Written in Latin and German, this work is widely regarded as the single most important music treatise of the pre-Classical period.

This work describes the sambuca lincea, an eight-manual harpsichord (also known as a pentecontachordon), invented by Colonna that divided the octave into seventeen parts.

Represents an early sketch of Mersenne’s work on music theory that would achieve a more complete expression two years later in Harmonie universelle.

2 v. in 1: ill., diagrs. music; 37 cm. Latin version of Mersenne’s monumental encyclopedia, which contains his most developed thoughts on music.

2 v. in 1: ill., front., music, ports.; 35 cm. Edited by Jacobus Viva, with his letter to the reader (prelim p. [19]). Additional double-page engraved t.p. with dedicatory portrait of Leopold Guilielmus, archduke of Austria, Belgium and Burgundy; engraved by Io. Paulo Schor, Barfonius F., Romae. Vol. 2 t.p.: Athanasii Kircheri Fuldensis Soc. Iesu presbyteri Mvsvrgia vniversalis, siue Ars magna consoni et dissoni. Romae, Ludouici Grignani, 1650; with additional engraved plate of Apollo playing the cythara, engraved by Petrus Miotte. “Synopsis musurgiae vniuersalis in X libros digestae”—Verso of vol. 1 t.p. “Tristychon in tomvm II”—Verso of vol. 2 t.p. Includes 20 engraved plates, one folded, numbered I–IV, VI–X, XIII–XXIII. Engraved vignettes at the beginning and end of each chapter and ornamental initials. Woodcut text illustrations and musical examples. Privilege statements, dedicatory letter, and prefaces to the reader (vol. 1, prelim. [19] p.). Includes index to vol. I (vol. 1, final [22] p.), errata (vol. 1, final [2] p.) and to chapters within all 10 books (vol. 2, final [12] p.).

2 preliminary leaves, 34 pages: illustrations (music) diagrams; 23 cm. Written in 1618 and first published in 1650. Translations and revised editions appeared in 1653, 1656, 1661, 1668, and 1695. It is noteworthy as an early experiment in the application of an empirical, deductive, scientific approach to the study of sensory perception. It is also among the earliest attempts to study the relationship between the physical and psychological phenomena in music.

The most important English work on the viola da gamba.

First printed in 1654, the work went through twenty editions, the last being in 1730. In addition to being broadly regarded as the most significant English theoretical treatise of the late 17th century, Brief introduction also contains practical instructions for performing on the bass viol and the treble violin.

Templum musicum comprises part 6 of Alsted, Elementale mathematicum (1611).

This second edition of The division-violist includes a Latin translation alongside the original English, “to make it useful at home as well as abroad.”

Musick’s monument is among the most quoted English language music treatises of the 17th century. It includes instructions for playing lute, viol, and organ.

First published in Rome in 1677, this work narrates the history of wind instruments in antiquity.

Separate sections of this work explore the history of the viol, ornamentation, transposition, and different approaches to playing the instrument.

This work is about the five-course, double-strung guitar typical of the period.