For those tpin-ers who want to learn more about aspects of brass instrument history and particular models of instruments, there is presently not a lot of source material available.  Here is a list of some books which may be of
interest, but which take a little searching out to find:

The American Piston-valved Cornets and Trumpets of the Shrine to Music Museum, by Marshall Scott (Ph. D. Dissertation 1988, UMI Dissertation Service).

A Catalogue of the European Cornets and Trumpets at the Shrine to Music Museum, by David W. Knutson (Ph. D. Dissertation 1992, UMI Dissertation Service).

Brass Instrument Key and Valve Mechanisms Made in America Before 1875, by Robert E. Eliason (Ph. D. Dissertation 1968, UMI Dissewrtation Service).

A Catalogue of the Alto Brass Instruments in the Arne B. Larsen Collection (Shrine to Music Museum), by Gary R. Moege (Ph. D. Dissertation 1985, UMI Dissertatoin Service).

The Keyed Bugle, Its History, Literature and Technique, by Ralph T. Dudgeon (Ph. D. Dissertation 1980, UMI Dissertation Service).

A Century of Wind Instrument Manufacturing in the United States, by Martin Krivin (Ph. D. Dissertation 1962, UMI Dissertation Service).

Brass Bibliography, by Mark J. Fasman (Indiana University Press 1990; ISBN 0-253-32130-1).

The Keyed Bugle, by Ralph T. Dudgeon (The Scarecrow Press Inc., Metuchen, N. J. 1993; ISBN 0-8108-2645-3).

The Ph. D. dissertations are available soft-bound or hard-bound, from UMI Dissertation Service, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1/800-521-0600.   The cost in hard-bound version is about $65.00 per volume, as I recall, with discounts available to educators.

The other two books should be available through bookstores.  The Fasman Buibliography is about $38.00 new, though some have been located for half that price in used book stores.  This book is an invaluable reference to
all sorts of articles written through the years about the entire family of brass instruments, music, and performers.

The Dudgeon book on the keyed bugle is an amplification of his earlier Ph. D. thesis on the subject.

Also, I believe that tpin-er Richard Dundas still has a few copies of his book, 20th Century Brass Instruments in the United States, available through Manduca Music Publications, 861 Washington Avenue, Portland, Maine 04103 (phone 800/626-3822).

I am sure that there are more good books out there on the subject; this is a start.

Tom Meacham
meacham@alaska.net