Blough-Weis Library: Music of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Eras (Music 245): Additional Resources

Other Languages

Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music treatises and related works are only occasionally in English - Latin, French, and German are all common choices. In addition, many of the authors were polyglots, and would drop in quotations in the original Greek or Hebrew as well! They understood it, why wouldn't you? So here are a few resources to help you figure out what your book actually says.

Latin

Whitaker's Words
A basic platform that translates from Latin to English (and English to Latin), as well as identifying parts of speech.

English

Oxford English Dictionary
The authoritative dictionary of the modern English language, the OED also contains numerous archaic and disused words, as well as complete etymologies.

LEME: Lexicons of Early Modern English
LEME searches 275 texts of the English language written from 1475-1755, providing information on how particular words were used and understood at that time.

French

Larousse: Dictionnaire Francais-Anglais
A modern French-English dictionary from Larousse, the traditional authority on the French language.
Dictionnaires d'autrefois
From the Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL), this site searches simultaneously across French-language dictionaries from the 17th to the 20th century.

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The open-access version of this site searches Nicot's Thresor de la langue française (1606), Féraud's Dictionaire critique de la langue française (1787-1788), Littré's Dictionnaire de la langue française (1872-1877), and the Dictionnaire de L'Académie française 1st (1694), 4th (1762), 5th (1798), 6th (1835), and 8th (1932-5) editions.
Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500)
This dictionary of medieval French allows you to search and view words with multiple forms and spellings, as was common for the period.

German

Collins German Dictionary
dict.cc: German-English-German Dictionary
This online dictionary translates words between German and English, as well as a number of other languages. It is group-edited, which makes it somewhat less reliable, but also more extensive than most academic dictionaries.

Italian

Collins Italian Dictionary

Codicology

Glossary of Book History Terms
From the Folger Shakespeare Library, a list of definitions for words commonly used when describing manuscripts and early printed books.
A Guide to Understanding Medieval Manuscripts: Technical Terms
While this glossary is focused on the study of manuscripts, many of the terms apply to printed books as well. Illustrated with examples from the holdings of the British Library.
Medieval Manuscripts: Bookbinding Terms, Materials, Methods, and Manuals
From Yale University Special Collections, this pdf is devoted to medieval manuscripts, but many of these techniques and characteristics persist found in later bookbindings.
Music Printing History
This image-heavy site is intended to serve as a kind of on-line museum and introduction to the techniques used to print music.
Bookbindings
This publication from the British Library describes different types of bookbindings and bookbinding materials, together with proper care and handling techniques.
Parchment-making
An overview from the Cornell University Library Conservation blog.
European Papermaking Techniques, 1300-1800
An extensive essay with illustrations and footnotes, from the University of Iowa.
The Invention of Printing
Not a traditional academic site, but a nice overview with illustrations and videos of presses in use.

Music Editions

A Genealogy of Music Editions
This flowchart is a rough attempt to show the relationships between different types of musical editions.

Music: What Are Scholarly Editions?
This page, from Brigham Young University Library, gives an overview of some major types of music editions, including definitions and examples.

Henry C. Wilt

Susquehanna article, Sept. 1927
A brief article published in the student paper on September 9, 1927, announcing the donation of Henry C. Wilt's book collection to the library.
Selinsgrove Times-Tribune article, Sept. 1927
An article published in the Selinsgrove town paper about the donation of the Wilt collection to Susquehanna.
Archives biographical card
An index card from the SU archives which details the information known on Henry Wilt and his donation.
Wilt Death certificate, March 1927
The death certificate for Henry C. Wilt, giving some brief biographical details as well as time and cause of death.
Wilt Donation in 2018: Inventory
A listing of most of the books from Henry Wilt's original collection which are still held at the Blough-Weis library, based on catalogue records.