This is the first comprehensive historical and technological study of
the pianoforte based on important primary source material. Most
histories of the piano begin with its invention by Bartolomeo Cristofori
in Florence in about 1700: this study begins with the earliest
fifteenth- and sixteenth-century manuscript sources and extends over
Cristofori's rediscovery of the principle of the hammer action, the
early exportation of Florentine pianofortes to prominent European
courts, and the building of copies of these instruments in Portugal,
Spain and Germany. Technical information is presented in a comparative
format and the text is illustrated with many photographs, measurements,
line drawings and tables. While written primarily for the technical
specialist, there is much here of significance for the history of the
piano and performance practice.