Collection
Musical Instruments at the Library of Congress
Articles and Essays
Stringed Instruments Collection
Instrument collecting at the Library of Congress began with the generosity of Mrs. Gertrude Clarke Whittall who donated five stringed instruments made by Antonio Stradivari to the Library of Congress in 1935. Since that time, the Library's Music Division has acquired five additional stringed instruments through generous donations. These additional violins were made by Stradivari, Nicolò Amati, Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, and Giuseppe Guarneri (two…
Dayton C. Miller Collection of Wind Instruments
Johann Joachim Quantz / Flute in C The Miller collections contain nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, trade catalogs, tutors, patents, and other materials mostly related to the flute. The collections include both Western and non-Western examples of wind instruments with at least 460 European and American instrument makers represented. The collections are especially strong in 19th-century keywork, acoustical…
Musical Instruments from Thailand
This collection was presented to the Library of Congress by King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in 1960. It contains ten instruments, including a pair of ching (hand cymbals), one thōn and one rammanā (both small hand-played drums), two khlui ū (one small- and one medium-sized bamboo flute, each with red-and-gold-brocade cover), one jakhē (čhakhē, a three-stringed zither, with a red-and-gold-brocade cover), and two sq…
Wilkins Early Stringed Instruments Collection
This instrument collection consists of six early stringed instruments donated in 1937 by Dr. H. Blakiston Wilkins, the Library’s former honorary curator of what is sometimes called the Cremonese Collection (stringed instruments made in Cremona, Italy). The Wilkins Collection includes a pardessus de viole (five-string treble viol), made by Louis Guersan, Paris (1749); a 14-string viola d'amore by an unknown German maker (second half…
Stringed Instruments Collection Instrument collecting at the Library of Congress began with the generosity of Mrs. Gertrude Clarke Whittall who donated five stringed instruments made by Antonio Stradivari to the Library of Congress in 1935. Since that time, the Library's Music Division has acquired five additional stringed instruments through generous donations. These additional violins were made by Stradivari, Nicolò Amati, Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, and Giuseppe Guarneri (two…
Dayton C. Miller Collection of Wind Instruments Johann Joachim Quantz / Flute in C The Miller collections contain nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, trade catalogs, tutors, patents, and other materials mostly related to the flute. The collections include both Western and non-Western examples of wind instruments with at least 460 European and American instrument makers represented. The collections are especially strong in 19th-century keywork, acoustical…
Musical Instruments from Thailand This collection was presented to the Library of Congress by King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in 1960. It contains ten instruments, including a pair of ching (hand cymbals), one thōn and one rammanā (both small hand-played drums), two khlui ū (one small- and one medium-sized bamboo flute, each with red-and-gold-brocade cover), one jakhē (čhakhē, a three-stringed zither, with a red-and-gold-brocade cover), and two sq…
Wilkins Early Stringed Instruments Collection This instrument collection consists of six early stringed instruments donated in 1937 by Dr. H. Blakiston Wilkins, the Library’s former honorary curator of what is sometimes called the Cremonese Collection (stringed instruments made in Cremona, Italy). The Wilkins Collection includes a pardessus de viole (five-string treble viol), made by Louis Guersan, Paris (1749); a 14-string viola d'amore by an unknown German maker (second half…