An internationally renowned manufacturer, designer, and inventor of piano-making machinery presents a history of the development of the 19th-century piano. Photographs of instruments, working diagrams, and portraits of important personalities accompany the text. Covers automatic instruments, including player pianos. "Invaluable data about American piano making." — Grove's.

First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book continues the overview of early pianos begun in Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 (OUP, 1993). Although a few of the biographies overlap, the majority of the makers are completely new. Approximately 2,400 makers and manufacturers and about 2,200 pianos are listed. Of this total, about 645 are English, the majority of whom were active in London; more than 200 of the London makers have not been discussed in previous publications.

Richard Burnett traces the development of the piano from its origins to the present day, using instruments from his internationally known collection, at the Finchcocks Museum in Kent, England, as the inspiration and navigational means for his story.