the New-york book of prices for manufacturing piano-fortes
by the society of journeyman piano-forte makers
Forward by Henry Z. Steinway
Introduction by Laurence Libin
“The 1835 Price Book of New York’s Society of Journeymen Pianoforte Makers, known from only one surviving copy, gives uniquely detailed insight to the craft . . . . To put the Price Book into a broad social perspective, Laurence Libin provides a panoramic but sharply-focused snapshot of life, work, and culture in New York about 1835.” – From the Foreword by Henry Z. Steinway
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Reproduced from the original 112-page print, the New-York Book of Prices specifies hundreds of steps in piano construction, giving the journeymen’s price for each operation. Plus, twenty-one detailed tables cover such essential procedures as veneering, moulding, and installing hardware; and six plates outline action parts, pedal lyres, and other components.
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Special features include appendices listing New York musicians and musical instrument makers from Longworth’s American Almanac for 1835, and Lynn Edwards Butler’s translation of the Well-Meant Advice . . . to Germans who intend to immigrate to the United States, a rare cautionary booklet issued in 1833 by the German Society of New York. With index and errata, the New-York Book of Prices will interest labor and music historians, woodworkers, piano technicians, instrument makers and furniture collectors, and everyone interested in antebellum American culture. ISBN 0-913499-31-5 (paperbound)
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The New-York Book of Prices for Manufacturing Piano-fortes by The Society of Journeymen Piano-forte Makers. Foreword by Henry Z. Steinway. Introduction by Laurence Libin. AMIS 2009.
