RECENT ACQUISITIONS: Department of Printed ... - British Library

Leoncavallo, Puccini (twelve scores), Mascagni, Cilea, Giordano (including a score of Andrea
Ch^nier used by Mahler, with his conductor's markings), Pfitzner, Zemlinsky, Wolf-Ferrari,
Milhaud, Gershwin, Poulenc, Weill. Hire library scores of operas composed in the last twenty years
by such composers as Tippett and Britten have also been purchased.
Editions of Famous Gomposers ofthe Late Eighteenth and the Nineteenth Genturies
The bibhography of composers of this time is complicated by two factors. First, the use of engraved
plates enabled corrections to be made without difficulty in the early issues of an edition, though the
plates often suffered damage and were then replaced by less accurate ones; in consequence, an
edition may not be adequately represented by a single issue. Secondly, works of many composers
appeared by agreement simultaneously in more than one country, so that parallel editions
frequently have independent textual histories. The following list of well-known composers gives
the approximate number of first and early printings of textual importance acquired: Haydn 25,
Boccherini 10, Clementi 15, Mozart 30, Beethoven 15, Field 25, Weber 10, Schubert 25, Berlioz 10,
Mendelssohn 60, Chopin 50, Schumann 30, Liszt 100, Chaikovsky 20, Grieg 40, Wolf 10.
Welsh Music
During the last fifteen years the Library has acquired over 3,500 pieces of Welsh music published
between the 1830s and the present time. They include hymn and psalm books, oratorios, cantatas,
anthems, music books for festivals, part-songs, solo songs, and instrumental pieces. Owing to the
strong tradition of local publication in Wales much of this material is very scarce; the Library's
holdings in the field are now outstanding.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
R. C. ALSTON: Consultant to the Reference Division ofthe British Library; Editor ofthe
Eighteenth Gentury Short Title Gatalogue.
H. BUNKER WRIGHT: Emeritus Professor of English at Miami University, Oxford,
Ohio.
P. J. CROFT: Fellow and Librarian of King's College, Cambridge, died on 29 August
1984, at the time this article was undergoing final revision.
M. L. EVANS: Assistant Keeper (Fine Art) at the National Museum of V^ales.
P. F. KoRNiCKi: University Lecturer in Japanese at Cambridge University.
0. W. NEIGHBOUR: Formerly Music Librarian in the Department of Printed Books.
ANNAE. C. SiMONi: Formerly Assistant Keeper in charge ofthe Dutch Section ofthe
Department of Printed Books.
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