A catalogue of the brass musical instruments of the Carl Busch Collection at the University of Illinois

Abstract

The Carl Busch Collection contains approximately 250 wind instruments of the early-nineteenth through the early-twentieth centuries. Perhaps the most significant of the 119 brass instruments are a set of American Civil War Era over-the-shoulder instruments, three Antoniophones, a Besson cornophone, and several keyed bugles. Also in this catalogue are Herbert L. Clarke's cornets.

This work is intended as an historical and descriptive catalogue serving to expose the Collection's strengths to other researchers, but also to provide intellectual control and security documentation of the Collection. In addition, the author compared detailed instrument measurements in order to help classify the many "hybrid" instruments more accurately.

Part One consists of an introductory chapter, an historical chapter summarizing of the Collection's history, and a chapter discussing the author's methods of classifying and cataloguing. Part Two is the actual pictorial catalogue, divided by instrument type. Part Three includes an analysis of the instrument measurements and an assessment of the condition of the Collection. In addition, the Appendices give complete measurements tables and lists of the instruments designed to help others in further research.