The writer, composer and organist Thomas Busby (1754–1838) was originally articled to the composer Jonathan Battishill before setting out to make his living from both musical and literary labours. His compositions (many now lost) include songs, theatre music and oratorios. His written output comprised journal articles and monographs, among them A Grammar of Music and A General History of Music (both reissued in this series). The present work, his most endearing, was first published in 1825. Gossipy, informative and highly entertaining, it yields all manner of insights into musical life through history. Approximately a thousand anecdotes are assembled across the three volumes as a delightful potpourri, interspersed with pen portraits of eminent musicians. Volume 1 includes discussion of Sir John Hawkins, the Panharmonicon, Rodolphe Kreutzer, Beethoven's eccentricity, and music as a treatment for the bite of a spider.
