This is the first comprehensive historical and technological study of the pianoforte based on important primary source material.

Most histories of the piano commence with its invention by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence in about 1700: this new study begins with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century manuscript sources and extends through Cristofori's rediscovery of the principle of the hammer action, the early exportation of Florentine pianofortes to prominent European courts, and the building of copies of these instruments in Portugal, Spain, and Germany. Technical information is presented in a comparative format and the text is illustrated with many photographs, measurements, line drawings, and tables. Collateral developments of piano mechanisms by early eighteenth-century German and French inventors are presented through translations and transcriptions of original source material.

Technical descriptions of all the known pianofortes dating to 1763 are given, including string lengths and striking points, basic case dimensions, and hammer action measurements. The action, soundboards, and case structures are analyzed and compared. Measurements are derived from the author's own examinations of early pianos and do not rely on information from secondary sources.

While written primarily for the technical specialist, this study contains much of significance for the history of the piano and performance practice.