Stencilled music books in France: techniques, inventories, ateliers, 1669–1841

Davy-Rigaux, A. and Kindel, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9995-5891, eds. (2025) Stencilled music books in France: techniques, inventories, ateliers, 1669–1841. Typography papers, 10. University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, Reading, pp140. ISBN 9780704916173

Abstract/Summary

Stencilled music books in France: techniques, inventories, ateliers, 1669–1841 offers studies of stencilled music books made in France and the stencil work that supported their creation. Biographies of individual stencillers and stencilmakers provide insights into their lives and professional circumstances, while inventories identify the scope of their work, its artistic and technical features, and the liturgical functions stencilled music books served for ecclesiastical and royal institutions. The volume in total makes a significant contribution to the scholarly literature about a still relatively obscure technique of graphic production and the remarkable works that often resulted from its use. It adds new information about the production of plainchant and polyphonic music, for which stencilling proved especially well-suited in the context of liturgical services in the post-Tridentine period.