Published in conjunction with the March 2000 exhibition at the Smithsonian International Gallery celebrating the tricentennial of the invention of the piano. The 250-plus color photographs and text by Smithsonian curators Cynthia Hoover, Patrick Rucker, and Edwin Good present the technical and social history of the instrument, highlighting the innovative craftsmen, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, teachers, performers and composers who helped to make it the most popular musical instrument of modern times. They also include rare composers' manuscripts and first editions tracing the diversity of music the piano inspired. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An engaging, encyclopedic account of the material world of early modern Britain as told through a unique collection of dated objects The period from 1500 to 1800 in England was one of extraordinary social transformations, many having to do with the way time itself was understood, measured, and recorded. Through a focused exploration of an extensive private collection of fine and decorative artworks, this beautifully designed volume explores that theme and the variety of ways that individual notions of time and mortality shifted. The feature uniting these more than 450 varied objects is that each one bears a specific date, which marks a significant moment—for reasons personal or professional, religious or secular, private or public. From paintings to porringers, teapots to tape measures, the objects—and the stories they tell—offer a vivid sense of the lived experience of time, while providing a sweeping survey of the material world of early modern Britain.

"[Leppert's] originality is immensely encouraging to those of us who are convinced that musicology is undergoing a paradigmatic change."—Derek B. Scott, author of The Singing Bourgeois "A wonderfully stimulating book. . . . Will be of great importance to musicologists and students of culture generally."—Ruth Solie, editor of Musicology and Difference

A history of the HRC at the ANU, but also an examination of the role and predicament of the humanities within universities and the wider community, and contributes substantially to the ongoing debate on an Australian identity.