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an old book with a bunch of different colored trees on itan open book with a page of music in it on a white surfacea brown book sitting on top of a white surfacean open book with a picture of a bird on top of it
Maître Paul PASTAUD

1641 - GARDINER (William). *The Music of Nature*; an attempt to pro…
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Estimate €80 - €100
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Description
GARDINER (William). *The Music of Nature*; an attempt to prove that what is passionate and pleasing in the art of singing, speaking, and playing musical instruments is derived from the sounds of the living world. Boston, J. H. Wilkins & R. B. Carter, 1837. In-4, Bradel binding in percaline with embossed floral motifs, title gilded on the spine (contemporary binding). First American edition (five years after the original English edition) of this rare work. It is illustrated with an engraved and watercoloured frontispiece (showing the shape and colour of the tones of wind instruments). Numerous passages of musical notation appear within the text. William Gardiner, an amateur musician, composer and one of the first to popularise Beethoven’s music in England – as well as a vegetarian and a member of the Adelphi Philosophical Society – published in 1832 *The Music of Nature*, a unique work in which he argues that the foundations of music, singing and vocal expression have their origins in the sounds of the living world. Drawing on numerous observations and illustrations, he compares birdsong, animal cries, the inflections of the human voice and natural phenomena to demonstrate that musical taste derives directly from nature. At the crossroads of music, natural history and aesthetics, this treatise constitutes one of the earliest attempts to explain musical emotions through a naturalistic approach, closely aligned with the Romantic movement of the early 19th century. Label from the Essex Institute Art Library (with ‘released’ stamp). Ex-libris H. Wheatland, Dec. 1837.
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About the sale MONTIGNAC – 31st BOOK SALE – Day 3 of 4 – Nos. 1085 to 1642
Auction location
Auction time 08/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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