Although it might be deemed somewhat unusual for the pages of a musicians' journal to review bibliographical material, it should be borne in mind that such publications are of utmost value not only to scholars, but also to performers. David Hunter's listing of all operas and songbooks published in England between the years 1703 and 1726 is an important research tool for two purposes. It provides a complete coverage of all published secular vocal material, of particular use to those wishing to identify any early eighteenth-century song, allowing us to establish not only sources, but also important information concerning publishers and printing. Further to this, it acknowledges the position of England as a leading cosmopolitan musical centre during the early seventeenth century. Thus, Hunter's bibliography lists 198 issues and 2296 song first lines. His starting point was fixed by Cyrus Day and Eleanor Murrie's 1940 publication, English Song-Books 1651-1702, the year in which Purcell's posthumous Orpheus Britannicus was published and the point at which John Walsh, one of the leading lights in publishing during the eighteenth century, began to establish himself firmly. The terminal date of 1726 anticipates the inception of the ballad opera, notably John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and the ultimate popularity of that genre.

...presented in a manner that facilitates easy reading and cross-referencing.

Bibliographical descriptions are subject to neither the supposition nor the contentious issues that standard historical monographs present. Thus, of what is essentially a detailed listing, little can be said concerning its contents apart from the verification of the information presented; this can be an arduous and time-consuming task, something that is essentially outside the remit of the reviewer who, without specific knowledge to the contrary, has to accept the accuracy of information therein. Thus, an approach to validating such a work is to use it solely in the pursuit of a particular project and compare this in light of other such research. In this instance, a source search of the overture and songs from Bononcini's opera Camilla (1696, first performed in England in 1706 and published by Walsh in 1707) and Poliani's pasticcio Croesus (1713-14), has provided sufficient evidence to suggest that Hunter's work is meticulous and thoroughly researched.

Each listing contains full bibliographical descriptions of initial and later publications, very well produced facsimiles of title pages, full concordances and source references. The volume is easy to use, with information presented in a manner that facilitates easy reading and cross-referencing. Indexes provide a list of operas, first lines, composers, librettists and adaptors. Importantly, however, there are also references to singers, printers and publishers, and engravers, features often omitted from such volumes.

Opera and Songbooks is an essential reference tool not only for those wishing to examine music-making and printing during the first quarter of the eighteenth century, but is an also extremely well produced example of bibliographical research.

John Woodford