Publications

This biographical dictionary chronicles all the master craftsmen involved in instrument making in New York City, from the obscure work of Geoffry Stafford in 1691 to the zenith of the 1890s, and on to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many of the 1095 detailed entries focus on nineteenth-century makers, when the city was the largest producer of instruments in the Western Hemisphere, and designs and innovations pioneered by New York artisans influenced and inspired instrument makers throughout the world. Aside from providing a record of these instrument makers, the dictionary offers a historical study of an urban trade that is ultimately tied to the growth and development of the city.