Amsterdam Toonkunst-Bibliotheek BT 61/580-212-H-12 : the first of a four-volume catalog of musical incipits kept in 18th-century Europe : with an index to all four volumes / presented by Jean DeWitt.

Abstract

148 leaves : facsims., music ; 28 cm.<br> Typescript (photocopy).<br> Bibliography: leaves 139-148.

In the 1895 supplement to the catalog of the Toonkunst Bibliotheek in Amsterdam, a manuscript thematic catalog is
 mentioned which does not appear in the previous (1887) supplement, According to a letter from Paul W, van Reijen, the
 librarian, the previous owner of this catalog is unknown, as are the circumstances under which it came into the library's
 possession. Reijen adds that the catalog card shows "c. 1810" as the date of writing, but suggests that perhaps the date should be extended to "first quarter of the 19th century" by way of precaution. He further mentions that any collection represented by this thematic catalog does not exist as such in the Toonkunst Bibliotheek today, according to random tests. Correspondence with music librarians in the Haags Gemeentemuseum and the Instituut voor Muziekwetenschap at Utrecht shows also that the collection as a whole does not exist in any of the major music collections of Holland, making this thematic catalog appear to be the sole evidence that such a collection might have existed at one time. For this and other reasons, the Amsterdam catalog is a valuable' tool for research in 18th-century music, The primary use of the catalog is probably that of composer identification: since it contains full thematic entries, the catalog can be used for purposes of attribution, much in the same manner as the Breitkopf thematic catalog has come into use, The widely celebrated value of
 such a major tool as Breitkopf's catalog.is summarized at thebeginning of Neils Krabbe's article, "J.C. Bach's Symphonies
 and the Breitkopf Thematic Catalog, in which the status of one composer's symphonic repertoire is revised according to the
 new indications found in Breitkopf's catalog. On a more general level, the Amsterdam catalog is also helpful by shedding light on the vast number of unknown composers of the period, some of whose very existence may be confirmed only by a mention in such a catalog. Unlike the Breitkopf catalog, however, the Amsterdam catalog does not offer specific dates of
 publication for the works mentioned. Yet, if its creator can be identified some day, the Amsterdam catalog may provide a unique insight into the musical tastes of an 18th-century music collector.