{"title":"Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eMusical theory, composition, performance, and instruments.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"fairburn-s-collection-of-songs","title":"FAIRBURN s Collection of Songs","description":"\u003cp\u003eChapbook of popular songs, rarely found complete.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"FAIRBURN s Collection of Songs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816093622607,"sku":"X20","price":450.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Photo-17-10-2015-16-12-11_burned.jpg?v=1781795314"},{"product_id":"walther-johann","title":"WALTHER, Johann","description":"\u003cp\u003eCrisp copy of a German poem written to commemorate the death of Martin Luther in 1546, when the volume was first printed in five impressions (no priority has been established). Johann Walther (or Walter) (1496 1570), the  father of Lutheran church music , was composer and then director of the chapel choir of Frederick III, Duke of Saxony. In 1524, he published  Geistliches Gesangbuechleinin , a hymnal for Lutheran choirs, with a foreword by Martin Luther himself; the  Deutsche Messe  followed in 1527. For two decades, Walther worked incessantly with Luther to adapt Catholic church music to the needs of Lutheran liturgy, for instance, by introducing hymns into the mass and encouraging people to sing them at home and make them part of their everyday lives. The  Epitaphium  is Walther s tribute to a religious personality who had also become a close friend. The poem depicts Luther as a heroic figure whom Death cannot overpower and the Devil s bite cannot hurt, a soul who has escaped from the hellish torments reserved to Papists to revive in the teachings of God s word and the light of Christ. The fine woodcuts after Lucas Cranach the Younger immortalise Luther and Frederick III, one of the earliest defenders of Lutheranism and founder of the University of Wittenberg, where Luther taught. \u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n  The striking binding is made of two non-sequential leaves from the same manuscript in superb condition. It is probably a C15 German lectionary, with excerpts from the Acts of the Saints and Martyrs, associated with their calendar dates of worship. The front cover features passages from the acts of St Mathias (February 24) and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 10), while on the back are extracts from the lives of St Peter and Paul (including Acts 1:21-26 and 12:2-8), interspersed with orations.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WALTHER, Johann","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816138580303,"sku":"L2748","price":4950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/frontcover_2d4127df-f89c-4889-9c1d-2abc3a65732f.png?v=1781795192"},{"product_id":"missal-use-of-sarum","title":"MISSAL, Use of Sarum","description":"\u003cp\u003eA extremely rare edition of the Salisbury Missal, one of the very few examples of an English printing of the work. An exceptional survival in remarkable contemporary binding.  The English printers of the fifteenth century seemed curiously reluctant to print the major service-books of their own national liturgy, the rite of Sarum. This apparent disinclination cannot be explained by any lack of a market for such works. The Sarum Missal, above all, was certainly in greater demand than any other single book in preReformation England, for every mass-saying priest and every church or chapel in the land was obliged to own or share a copy for daily use. Yet it is a striking fact that of the twelve known editions of the Sarum Missal during the incunable period all but two were printed abroad, in Paris, Basle, Venice, or Rouen, and imported to England. The cause of this paradoxical abstention was no doubt the inability of English printers to rise to the required magnificence of type-founts and woodcut decoration, and to meet the exceptional technical demands of high-quality red-printing, music printing, and beauty of setting, which were necessary for the chief service-book of the Roman Church in England. Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde at Westminster, John Lettou and William de Machlinia in London, Theodoric Rood at Oxford, and the Schoolmaster Printer at St. Albans, possessed neither materials nor craftsmen fit for this specialized work. Their chosen, natural, and economically profitable field lay in the provision of English vernacular texts or other matter in local demand. They performed this task, for the most part, with a sturdy indifference to Continental refinements, indeed with a peculiarly national character and individuality, which we may admire and relish to this day. Meanwhile the great book-producing centres of Italy, Germany, and France (subject to their own specializations and rivalries) abundantly supplied England and other outlying countries with service-books and all other works   such as the classics, the Latin Bible, scholastic theology, Roman and Canon law, medical and other sciences   which were in international demand. English printers had no incentive to compete with these, and we may be almost glad of it, for they would have risked losing the insular savour of their national identity. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The exceptions .. only go to prove the rule. The printers Julian Notary and Jean Barbier, who signed a Sarum Missal commissioned by Wynkyn de Worde at Westminster on 20 December 1498, and Richard Pynson, who completed another on his own behalf in London on 10 January 1500, were French by nationality and training, and used imported Parisian liturgical type-founts in these volumes, which in general appearance and quality are hardly distinguishable from the best missal-printing of Paris or Rouen. True, Notary and Barbier baulked at the difficulties of complete music printing, and supplied only blank printed staves for musical notes to be added in manuscript. Pynson, whose edition [of 1500] is remarkable as containing the first true English-printed music, must surely have brought in from Paris or Rouen not only a supply of music type, but also an expert music compositor. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The sixteenth century brought little change. In a total of forty-eight editions of the Sarum Missal from 1501 to 1534 (the year when the final break with Rome was signalized by Henry VIII s Statute of Supremacy) twenty-six were printed in Paris, sixteen at Rouen, two at Antwerp, and only four in London. Three of these last were produced by the competent and enterprising Pynson, in 1504, 1512, and 1520, and only one, which is known only from a fragment of four leaves, by Wynkyn de Worde, in 1508. After 1534, except for a brief reappearance in 1554-7 under Mary Tudor, when five editions were produced (two at Rouen, one in Paris, two in London), the Sarum Missal was printed no more. Existing copies seemed useless or even damnable, except to a clandestine few, their possession became dangerous to life or liberty, and nearly all were destroyed by fire, or neglect, or used as waste paper. In our time, when men value them again at last for their sanctity, or beauty, or as monuments of religious or printing history, or as bibliographical marvels, these missals are rare indeed. Of the twelve incunable editions three exist only in unique copies, three in two copies, and only one in as many as six copies; indeed, it seems statistically likely from these low survival figures that other editions may have been entirely lost or, at best, await discovery.  George D. Painter.  Two Missals printed for Wynkyn de Worde.  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n An exceptionally rare work, very finely printed with some of the earliest printed music in an English book, in a beautiful contemporary Oxford binding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MISSAL, Use of Sarum","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57816153882959,"sku":"K79","price":49500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_8152-1.jpg?v=1781794923"},{"product_id":"musical-bifolium","title":"MUSICAL BIFOLIUM.","description":"\u003cp\u003eContaining readings for Palm Sunday, a prayer for the preservation of the Pope and a hymn, all to be chanted, with full musical notation for doing so.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MUSICAL BIFOLIUM.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820348219727,"sku":"L3332","price":3750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3332-1.jpg?v=1781794805"},{"product_id":"wither-george-1","title":"WITHER, George","description":"\u003cp\u003eRare first edition of the first English hymn book. Composed by the poet George Wither with the music of Orlando Gibbons it is the first hymn book for Church of England congregations and was dedicated to James I. Wither's hymnbook is the first book of congregational song that focuses exclusively on hymnody rather than psalmody. George Wither was an English poet, pamphleteer, and satirist. His  Hymnes and Songs of the Church  (1622 1623) were aimed to counter exclusive psalmody, represented by the Sternhold and Hopkins Psalter. Orlando Gibbons provided the music for seventeen of them which represents almost the entire body of his sacred music published in his lifetime. They were issued under a patent of King James I ordaining that they should be bound up with every copy of the authorized metrical psalms offered for sale. This patent was opposed, as inconsistent with their privilege to print the singing-psalms, by the Stationers Company, to Wither's great mortification and loss, and a second similar patent was finally disallowed by the House of Lords. Wither defended himself in  The Schollers Purgatory  (1624). In this document, a 140-page diatribe against the Stationers Company for their refusal to print his work, Wither blames them for his financial ruin and hardship. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n  Before the restoration, non-scriptural hymns were regarded by most with suspicion as being  relics of Popery . However, the origins of English hymnology are to be found in the early seventeenth century. It was during this period that the first hymn book appeared for Church of England congregations. George Wither s  The hymnes and songs of the Church  was quite an ambitious endeavour. The hymns and songs were composed by Wither while Orlando Gibbons provided the tunes, but the project was doomed from the start. Wither had fallen foul of the Stationers  Company, who sought to maintain their monopoly on the printed word and, despite repeated attempts to break out of their imposed strait-jacket, Wither was unable to popularize his work. .. Wither also provided hymns for seasons and feasts including a translation of the Veni Creator which invokes and addresses the holy spirit.  Song 59  was intended for Trinity Sunday and the hymn stressed the limitations of reason in the face of Mystery. .. Whatever the merits of Wither s writings as poetry, as hymns they are quite valiant attempts to render the complexities of the doctrine of the Trinity into popular genre. His verse never achieves the depth of feeling or flourishes of rhetoric that we will find in Donne, but it does reveal a faith that was thoroughly trinitarian in flavour. Whither was obviously  at home  with the doctrine of the Trinity as much as Donne was, and in a way in which the majority of later divines were not.  Philip Dixon.  Nice and Hot Disputes  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The work appeared in four forms in 1623; 16mo, 8vo, quarto and folio; this 16 mo. edition is the first.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WITHER, George","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57820384592207,"sku":"L2188","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/DSC_9637.jpg?v=1781793810"},{"product_id":"gafurius-franchinus","title":"GAFURIUS, Franchinus","description":"\u003cp\u003e.A very good copy, of illustrious provenance, of this ground-breaking work for the history of printed music. This second edition was revised and more complete than that of 1480. The t-p displays one of the most famous early music woodcuts, one of the earliest depictions of the organ; the four woodcuts of Pythagoras are  the first to portray him as a musician  ( History , 76). .Franchinus Gaffurius (Francesco Gaffori, 1451-1522) was an Italian music scholar and composer. A Benedictine monk and priest, he became  maestro di cappella  in the Duomo at Milan in 1484, which hosted one of the most renowned choirs in Europe, patronised by the Sforza family. In addition to writing church compositions for his choir, he also published on the theory and practice of music, and the harmony of instruments.  Theoria  begins with a general section on the benefits of music and the difference between celestial, human and instrumental music. From the second part onwards it is solely devoted to musical mathematics, as at the time music was correctly considered closely related to mathematics and geometry. Gaffori was heavily inspired by the ancient Greek tradition, by which all music intervals are established around set ratios a system illustrated with woodcut diagrams of proportions. Using the ratios of Pythagoras (himself portrayed in four handsome woodcuts) as well as Greek notation (diapason, diapentes, etc.) as a starting point, Gafurius discusses consonances with long analyses on the mathematical proportions, their definition, types (including the  superparticulares , containing fractions) tones and semitones, the invention and disposition of sounds along strings, intervals and the application of syllables to notation. The staffs with letters and notation reproduced at the end were produced with wood blocks,  so cut that the lines of the staff and the shapes of the notes stood out in relief,   locked in the form with the letterpress, and the whole page was easily printed in one impression  (Kinkeldey,  Music , 100-1).  \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n .From the library of Alfred Cortot (1877-1962), famous Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor, especially praised for his interpretations of musical classics of the Romantic era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"GAFURIUS, Franchinus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859626565967,"sku":"K181","price":75000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/K181-6.jpg?v=1781793808"},{"product_id":"boyer-jean","title":"BOYER, Jean.","description":"\u003cp\u003eExceptionally rare copies of the first and only editions of these “songs for drinking and dancing” by Jean Boyer. These two collections of drinking and dancing songs belong to an authentically French genre, a light-hearted derivative of the ‘Air de cour’ a secular court song, which became one of the most important vocal genres in the first third of the 17th century. Among the remaining collections of drinking and dancing songs of the period, Boyer’s are probably the most interesting both rhythmically and harmonically, and the texts he chooses to set to music are generally more refined than those of many of his contemporaries. They do, however, remain secular, often bawdy and amusing, lighthearted songs, clearly meant for a popular audience even though they were printed by the King’s printer of music.\u003cbr\u003e\n“Set either in polyphony for four or five unaccompanied voices—mostly during the late sixteenth century, but also still in Boyer’s ‘1er livre d’Airs à quatre parties’ [1619]—or for one single voice with lute accompaniment, such songs were usually performed and heard at court for the private entertainment of the king (Louis XIII) and his entourage. Composers were among the most eminent musicians of the court, including Pierre Guédron, Antoine and Jean-Baptiste Boësset, François Richard, Étienne Moulinié, Jean Boyer, etc., who were all excellent singers, if not also lutenists. Given the courtly destination of these airs, printing privileges were given primarily to the royal publishers Le Roy \u0026amp; Ballard, though Ballard continued to publish airs by himself later on. The success of these songs was such that they became the main genre to be inserted in court ballets and, from 1608 some printed collections of ‘airs de cour’, conversely, mainly consisted of songs directly taken from the most sensational recent ballets de cour. Whether written by anonymous verse-writers, or by some of the most eminent French poets (e.g., Ronsard, Sillac, Pasquier, Desportes, and du Baïf) or derived from Italian pastorals by Tasso or Guarini and translated by d’Urfé, the texts were usually quite simple, in a binary form, and in regular meter. Always strophic, the poems were symmetrical, they typically had rhyming lines of 6–13 syllables organized in strophes of 4–8 lines and were set in a syllabic manner. … Although airs de cour were popular even beyond Paris and France, the fascination with the genre began to decline in the 1630s, and it was the chanson pour boire (humorous songs about drinking) and the chanson pour danser (dancing songs) that succeeded the more courtly genre until the early 1670s. …. Boyer’s 1636 ‘Recueil d’Airs à boire et danser’ consists of 51 songs, 26 “à boire” for a treble and bass voice, and 25 “à danser” for a solo singer, whereas the second collection (IIeme Livre des Chansons à danser et à boire), was published in 1642 and contains 31 chansons “pour danser”, four courantes and two sarabandes (all for a solo voice), and only seven chansons “pour boire” set for two voices (treble and bass)” Marc Vanscheeuwijck. ‘Chansons à boire et à danser. Airs de cour.’\u003cbr\u003e\nExcellent copies of these rare works, finely bound.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOYER, Jean.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859644653903,"sku":"L3768","price":3950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/Untitled-8.jpg?v=1781793740"},{"product_id":"asola-giovanni-matteo","title":"ASOLA, Giovanni Matteo.","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe sole known, unrecorded copy of the first edition of this musical score by Asola, containing a set of Vespers psalms for three voices. The 1602 and 1608 reprints are more common. This is the part of the  Chorus Primus , the first choir, usually the most important, which in this case is  Altus  (high). The part of the  chorus secundus  was published for the first time in 1599, with the title  Cantus (Tenor, Bassus) Secundi Chori Vespertinae omnium Solemnitatum psalmodiae vocibus ternis paribus canendae (Venice, Amadino). \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Giovanni Matteo Asola (1524-1609) was an Italian priest and composer born in Verona. At a young age, he entered the congregation of secular canons of Alga di Venezia, and later received his musical education from the renown composer of masses Vincenzo Ruffo in Verona. He became  maestro di cappella  at Treviso in 1578 and at Vicenza in 1581, then moved to Venice, where he lived until his death. An extremely productive composer, Asola wrote almost exclusively sacred music, including numerous masses, psalms and hymns, but also a series of madrigals   a type of secular composition that was particularly appreciated in the Renaissance. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n This attractive volume contains the words and music of psalms to be sung in the evening at Vespers, one of the most important services of the Roman rite, often celebrated more solemnly than the mass. At the time, Asola was one of the most prolific composers of Vespers settings, and his large and often reprinted corpus encompasses a great variety of styles. An exponent of the late Renaissance Venetian school, he frequently adopted the so called  Venetian polychoral style  (or  cori spezzati ), which involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation. The choirs were usually different, high and low, and would sing successive, often contrasting phrases of the music creating spectacular stereo and echo effects. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n In addition to a selection of usual psalms, such as  Dixit Dominus ,  Confitebor tibi ,  Laudate pueri ,  In exitu , this score also includes   at the end   the hymn  Magnificat  and the antyphons  Salve Regina  and  Regina Coeli . Interestingly,  Magnificat  is often included in Vespers  music publications as in some churches it was sung in polyphony with the first psalm,  Dixit Dominus .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ASOLA, Giovanni Matteo.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859644719439,"sku":"L3871","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L3871-3.jpg?v=1781793740"},{"product_id":"hymnal-and-antiphonal-augustinian-use","title":"HYMNAL AND ANTIPHONAL (Augustinian use)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis charming manuscript, with beautifully decorated initials, comprises the selection of chants for the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours), covering the entire duration of the liturgic year. A small and portable volume designed for personal use, it is a very unusual example containing exclusively the music and words of plainchant without any accompanying text. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n Divided into two section, marked by large illuminated initials, the first is a repertory of hymns, approximately arranged according to the liturgic year. There are hymns for the major hours (Vespers, Matins and Lauds) of all feast days, and hymns for  little hours  (prime, terce, sext and none) for major occasions. In the typical book of hymns, or  hymnal , music notation was indicated only for the first strophe of each hymn, because the same melody was sung for each strophe of the text. In many cases, notation was completely absent. Exceptionally, this volume has all the strophes of each hymn melody written out in full: this uncommon feature is particularly significant considering its small format. Another interesting characteristic is that the texts of the same four hymns for the  little hours  ( Iam lucis orto sidere ,  Nunc sancta nobis spiritus ,  Rector potes veras deus ,  Te lucis ante terminum ) are copied identically for several festivities, but each time the melody changes. This allow us to appreciate that not only the text had spiritual value, but also music: certain melodies were considered appropriate for specific feasts or grades of liturgical celebration, and every institution would have its own established customs in this respect. The second section is organised as an antiphoner, containing the texts of introductory antiphons, antiphons, responsories and versicles to be sung in the correct order during the liturgy of the hours. Unusually, it encompasses only a small number of festivities, and it does not rigorously follow the liturgical calendar. Psalms and hymns are not included: this is because the former were known by heart, the latter are already provided in the first section of the book. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The presence of a few hymns written by the cardinals Silvio Antoniano (1540-1603, such as  Fortem virili pectore ) and Robert Bellarmine (1542-1561, such as  Custodes hominum psallimus ), allow us to date this manuscript approximately to the last quarter of the 16th century, possibly to the 1570s. A  terminus ante quem  for the main text is provided by  Iam Christe, sol iustitiae , which does not include the alterations introduced by Pope Urban VIII in 1632. The evidence of the script of the final additions indicate that the manuscript was expanded and used probably till the end of the 17th century. Liturgical music manuscripts continued to be produced and used long after the invention of printing in 1455. This is because in most cases, they were meant to be unique objects   such as this one: every monastic or urban foundation required different music suited to the local, and even individual, requirements of place and patron. In these circumstances, an imprint would have been uneconomical. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The book was clearly made for Augustinian use; note the hymn and the office for  St. patri nostri Augustini  ( our holy father St. Augustine , ll. 86 and 398) and the hymn for St. Monica, Augustine s mother (fol. 253). The initials of these chants are also richly decorated. The final additions include more prayers and chants written or dedicated to St. Augustine. Remarkably, ff. 551-52 contain citations from Agustine s  Confessiones  with music. The particular arrangement and number of chants and psalms in the antiphonal section reflects the so called  secular cursus  (as opposed to the  monastic cursus ), which was practiced in churches, cathedrals and some religious orders, including the Augustinian Hermits. \u003cbr\u003e\n  \u003cbr\u003e\n The pen decoration and style of the illuminated initials, as well as the rubrics in Dutch, suggest that the volume was produced in the Netherlands, possibly in the south (see Andriolo and Reynolds no. 131 and 136 for similar examples). Following the success of the Dutch revolt, the Calvinist Church became the sole officially recognized Church in the territory of the new Dutch Republic. As a consequence, in 1572, Augustinian friars were expelled from the monasteries in the north (Dordrecht, Middleburg, Enkhuizen, Haarlem) and forced to flee to their confreres in the south. The only Augustinian friary which survived was Maastricht (southern Netherlands), and it is therefore probable that this volume was produced there. It should be noticed, however, that the monastery of Haarlem remained active until 1578. The modern bookplate reads  [I belong to] Martinus the hermit . A certain Brother Martin of Padua, hermit of the order of St. Augustine, is known from a manuscript ex-libris (late 15th century hand) on a volume printed in Italy and illuminated in the Netherlands, in a style that can be attributed to artists active Haarlem (see Andriolo and Reynolds no. 132).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HYMNAL AND ANTIPHONAL (Augustinian use)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57859644752207,"sku":"L3689","price":18500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/IMG_9808-copy-1.jpg?v=1781793740"},{"product_id":"delmedigo-joseph-solomon-2","title":"DELMEDIGO, Joseph Solomon.","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst edition of this extensively illustrated, most important Hebrew work on astronomy, mathematics, natural philosophy, music and geometry, written by ‘the first Jewish Copernican’, student of Galileo and a major influence on Spinoza. Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (1591-1655) was a rabbi, physician and polymath from Crete. At Padua, he studied medicine and attended Galileo’s astronomy lectures 1609-10. After a brief stay in Venice, he journeyed the Middle East, eventually settling in Amsterdam in 1623, where he wrote ‘Sefer Elim’, his only known work. It is divided into two separately titled parts—‘Sefer Elim’ and ‘Ma’ayan Ganim’—the latter subdivided into four essays on astronomy, mathematics, the consonance of music and biblical passages in relation to the scientific method. ‘Sefer Elim’ is a reply to 12 broad and 70 specific questions posed in letters, reproduced at the beginning, by the Karite scholar Zerah. Delmedigo’s answer discusses Aristotelian natural philosophy, spherical trigonometry, celestial bodies, comets and the workings of the lever, illustrated with diagrams and illustrations. Whilst Delmedigo’s in-depth analysis of Copernican theories was left unpublished and is now lost, his circumscribed references in ‘Sefer Elim’ are nevertheless revealing. ‘Part of Delmedigo’s support for the Copernican model is to be found in his criticism of the Aristotelian conception of the universe […] By rejecting this idea, Delmedigo not only took on the accepted scientific views of the past, but also challenged the Jewish model of the universe, which was based on Aristotle’; he also stated that the universe was possibly infinite and included other solar systems (Brown, ‘New Heavens’, 70). He mentions studying with ‘his teacher Galileo’, as he describes their observation of the sky and planets through the famous telescope; however, scholars believe Delmedigo became familiar with Copernicanism elsewhere, as until 1610 Galileo was not publicly or privately endorsing this theory (Brown, ‘New Heavens’, 74). The epistemological inconsistencies of ‘Sefer Elim’ derive from Delmedigo’s complex relationship to the Scientific Revolution and Cabala-informed Jewish culture, resistant to the new method. As proved by the very title—a reference to the fountains of wisdom—he linked ‘Jewish-hermetic revelation with Copernican cosmology and sought material objects such as ancient Hebrew mss that, purportedly, maintained a stronger connection to the revelation’, seeking to connect Jewish theology and Copernicanism (Ben-Zaken, ‘Cross-Cultural’, 78). The work ‘became suspect in the eyes of the elders of the Sephardic community, and a committee was formed to investigate the matter. The book had to be translated orally into Portuguese’; the printer had to declare officially that certain portions would not be published, though by then Delmedigo had moved elsewhere (Heller, ‘C17 Hebrew Book’, 471).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis copy preserves the Latin dedication to the reader, often absent.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DELMEDIGO, Joseph Solomon.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57868705038671,"sku":"L4443","price":19500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/IMG_6368.webp?v=1781793436"},{"product_id":"guidetti-giovanni","title":"GUIDETTI, Giovanni.","description":"\u003cp\u003e.The very rare fourth, enlarged edition, unrecorded in USTC, of the first complete plainsong chant manual published after the Council of Trent. Handsomely printed in red and black, it was first published in 1582, and here reprinted according to the revised Roman Breviary issued by Clement VIII. Giovanni Guidetti, of whom little is known, was chaplain to Pope Gregory XIII; he studied with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, one of the great Renaissance musicians, as mentioned in the preface to  Directorium , on which Palestrina also collaborated. The main goal of the work was 'to revive Gregorian singing in its pristine purity and free it from the arbitrary additions and alterations then in vogue  (Grove, p 639). Intended for clerics and all religious, Directorium  comprised the notation and words for the Divine Office, including specific chants for feasts throughout the year, with hymns, responsories, antiphons, and so on, as well as instructions on ritual gestures.  Guidetti s system of notation is famous for its unique note forms, devised to set both accentus and concentus in proportional durations  (Kim, p.152), which however never caught on in the world of printed music. They are absent in this edition, substituted by traditional plainchant notation. In the preface, the editor, J.F. Massano,  justified the changed notation by mentioning the absence of such marks in other ancient and learned precedents , on which Guidetti claimed to have relied; yet,  it may also be the case that the printer did not have access to Granjon s type , as used in previous editions. (Swanson, p.97). An important, handsomely printed source for the development of early modern plainchant... . \u003cbr\u003e\n. \u003cbr\u003e\n..Nicola Arbola was probably the choral chaplain of S. Maria Maggiore in Vercelli, Piedmont, recorded c.1780. .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"GUIDETTI, Giovanni.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57868707987791,"sku":"L3571","price":3750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/20250212_173004-copy.jpg?v=1781793425"},{"product_id":"psalms-6","title":"PSALMS","description":"\u003cp\u003eA charming C17th embroidered binding depicting flowers, prettily designed and expertly executed, including a rose, bunches of grapes, a bird, snail and moth, on this popular collection of metrical psalms by Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins, first published 1549, set to music and with settings of various liturgical pieces, prayers and hymns.  \u003cbr\u003e\n The needlework on this copy is very fine:  There certainly were amateur needlewomen who produced embroidery for bookbindings in the seventeenth century   The great majority of the embroidered bindings of this period, however, were undoubtedly professional work. In 1638 certain milliners with shops at the Royal Exchange addressed a petition to Archbishop Laud protesting against a Star Chamber decree which limited the sale of Bibles, New Testaments, and Psalm Books to stationers. The milliners said they had been selling such books bound in  rare and curious covers of embroidery and needlework,  and that both they and the embroiderers would suffer severely from this new regulation  (Mirjam Foot and Howard Nixon, The History of Decorated Bookbinding in England (Oxford: 1992), pp. 54-55).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PSALMS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57868718113103,"sku":"L4737","price":10500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/files\/L4737-Psalms-1-2.jpg?v=1781793364"},{"product_id":"clement-viii-pope-1","title":"CLEMENT VIII, Pope.","description":"\u003cp\u003e.Very rare first Venetian edition of this attractively printed guide codifying the vestments and actions of all participants in ceremonies carried out in the presence of bishops. Two Roman editions appeared in the same year, both printed in October as stated on to their title-pages. It contains choral music for various prayers and tones to be used in daily services, with variations, and for the sung confession during the mass. Its prescriptions for the use of the organ and choral music in worship remained until the Second Vatican Council of 1965.. \u003cbr\u003e\n. \u003cbr\u003e\n..The work is divided into two books: the first deals, inter alia, with what a bishop must do following his election, his dress, including the mitre and crook and the use of shaded canopies, his duties and privileges, his behaviour to his superiors (legates, cardinals, nuncios, etc.) and the behaviour of his assistants, including reverences, genuflections, etc.; the second concerns the offices of the holy mass when taken by the bishop and when conducted in his presence and absence, including services for the anniversary of the death of his professor, for the occasion of his own last illness and death, and prayers for his successor. . \u003cbr\u003e\n. \u003cbr\u003e\n..The prescriptions for the organ and choral music (ff. 51-52) state that music should be heard on Sunday or festival where the  people are accustomed to abstain from menial work.  There are exceptions, however, including solemn festivals such as Advent (except the third Sunday, called gaudete), the Annunciation, and the Mass of the Dead, when only plainchant can be used. The arrival of bishops or other important prelates should be accompanied by the playing of the organ. Describing both call-and-response between the cantor and organ and the use of the organ to accompany the choir, the guide describes the use of music during matins, vespers and the mass, stating when the organ should be played, including the Kyrie, Gloria and Agnus Dei, etc. The use of  profane,   sportive,  or any other kind of musical instruments besides the organ is forbidden entirely, and the author condemns any kind of singing that invokes levity or lasciviousness, or in any way distracts worshippers from contemplation of the divine. .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CLEMENT VIII, Pope.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57868721881423,"sku":"L4350","price":3750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/2425\/0703\/collections\/Screenshot_2026-06-18_at_6.21.50_PM.png?v=1781803380","url":"https:\/\/sokol-books-ltd.myshopify.com\/collections\/music.oembed","provider":"Sokol Books Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}