3 volumes. 12mo, crushed brown morocco with gilt-lettered spine by Rivière & Son, edges rubbed, some bowing to boards; bookplates of Frances Amelia Adams, front hinge of first volume cracked with front free endpaper detached, moderate foxing and offsetting scattered throughout. An extraordinary set, extra-illustrated with 5 autographs and over 150 18th and 19th-century engravings bound in, with many inlaid to size. Most illustrations are cut down to 12mo, some with slight losses to the images; some are flush mounted to an inset window; some are larger formats folded down. Engravings are generally in very good to fine condition, many with toning to the edges, some with light foxing and some with light plate marks.

Thomas Busby, himself a composer, published several notable works on music, including A Grammar of Music and A General History of Music. The present work is charmingly gossipy, informative and highly entertaining, and yields all manner of insights into musical life through history. Approximately a thousand anecdotes are assembled across the three volumes as a delightful potpourri. Among much else, Volume 1 includes discussion of Sir John Hawkins and Beethoven's eccentricity, Volume 2 with entries on Italian castrato Farinelli and English lutist Thomas Mace, and Volume 3 includes pieces on the music of ancient Greece and Rome, along with the work's index.

These particular copies constitute a remarkable collection and veritable encyclopedia of portraiture of the period, assembled with great care, whereby at nearly every mention of a name within the printed Busby text, whether in passing or as the object of more extended focus, the collector (Frances Amelia Adams?) has found and inserted a relevant portrait (or, in a few cases, an original document) of that person.  A detailed catalogue of the complete illustrations and insertions is available on request and runs to many pages. A very small sampling includes:

George III; King of England. Clipped Signature, "George R," on a scrap of vellum probably removed from a document. 1 1/4x3 1/2 inches; mounted to paper trimmed to size and inlaid, faint scattered foxing and soiling. Np, nd. ; Thomas Moore. Autograph Letter Signed, to "My dear Sir," wittily declining to break off an engagement with someone else. 1 page, 12mo; toning to edges, folds. Np, "Saturday Morning" no year. ; Engraving captioned "View of the magnificent Box erected for their Majesties, in Westminster Abbey under the Direction of Mr. James Wyatt, at the Commemoration of Handel."  First published in the European Magazine and London Review by J. Sewell, June 30, 1784.  Engraved by W & J Walker.  18.5 x 27.5 cm; folds, creased and rough edges. ; Joseph Haydn. Engraved portrait, bust, to right, looking to front.  From the painting by T. E. Mansfeld, engraved by J. Newton [not listed in the Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits].  Published September 1, 1784, by J. Sewell.  10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Georg Friedrich Handel.  Engraved portrait, half length, to left, in a long wig and fancy coat.  From the painting by Thomas Hudson [Royal Collection 405649], engraved by J. Thomson [Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits no. 6].  10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Engraved portrait, bust, right profile, oval in rectangular frame.  After the print by C. Kohl, 1793, engraved by J. Thomson [Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits no. 11].  10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Angelica Catalani.  Engraved portrait with the caption "Madame Catalina" [sic], half length, to right, with a flower in her hair.  From the painting by S. DeWilde, engraved by Cheesman [Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits no. 10].  10.5 x 17 cm. ; William Shakespeare.  Engraved portrait, half length, to right, stipple and line engraving, mid- to late-eighteenth century.  Unknown artist and engraver [National Portrait Gallery D5944].  10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Christoph Willibald Gluck.  Engraved portrait, half length, profile to left, in oval.  By an unidentified engraver, possibly after a mirror image of the engraving by Edmé Quenedey [Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Musique, Est. Gluck013], which was based on the bust by Houdon.  [Not in the Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits.]  10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Queen Elizabeth I of England.  Engraved portrait, full length, in ornate dress and holding orb and scepter. By an unidentified engraver, probably after the engraving by Crispijn de Passe the Elder [National Portrait Gallery D25180].  Cut to 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Samuel Johnson. Engraved portrait, half length, seated, with a book on the table in front of him, looking to right.  In an ornate engraved frame.  Engraved by R. Page.  Published by Bumpus, 1822. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Carl Maria von Weber. Engraved portrait, half length, looking to left. Engraved by H. Adlard [not in the Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits.] 10.5 x 17.5 cm.; Engraving captioned, "Commemoration of Handel in Westminster Abbey, 1784." Engraved by W. Read. 20 x 17 cm; folded down the center.  ; Alexander Pope. Engraved portrait, half length, with right elbow on table and hand supporting head. Oval in rectangle with ornate frame. Engraved by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after Sir Godfrey Kneller [Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits no. 6; National Portrait Gallery D27572]. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Jean-Baptiste Lully. Engraved portrait, full length, seated with score of "Armide." Engraved by Geille after Johannot [Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Musique, Est.LullyJ.B.020; not in the Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits.] Cut down significantly to 10.5 x 17.5 cm, with caption mounted at foot. ; Johann Adolf Hasse. Engraved portrait, half length, to right, in oval frame with fabric and sheet music below. Engraved by Kauxe after Rotari [Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Musique, Est.Hasse001; not in the Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits.] 7.5 x 14.3 cm. ; Pietro Metastasio. Engraved portrait, half length, in oval with ribbons and trumpet above. Engraved by Gaucher after Steiner [Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Handschriftenabteilung, Inventar-Nr. Portr. Slg / Lit. m / Metastasio, Pietro, Nr. 2, b043753]. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Chart entitled "Sound. Compass of voices and instruments, shewing the extent of each." The ranges of various voices and string, wind, and brass instruments are displayed on a large table. Published by Neele & Son. 18 x 25 cm; folds and creased edges. ; Torquato Tasso. Engraved portrait, bust, right profile, in oval frame with cherubs and harp. Engraved by Lapi, 1777, and published in an early edition of La Gerusalemme Liberata. 12.3 x 6.7 cm. ; Anna Selina Storace (Miss Storace). Engraved portrait as Euphrosyne in Miton's "Comus," full length, to right, standing, with cup. Engraved by Thornthwaite after DeWilde [Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits no. 8] and published by J. Bell, 1791. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Henry Purcell. Engraved portrait, half-length, to right. Engraved by H. Adlard after John Closterman [British Museum 1944,1014.277; not in the Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits]. 10 x 17.5 cm. ; Jean de la Fontaine. Engraved portrait, bust-length, to right. Engraved by James Hopwood the Younger after Hyacinthe Rigaud [British Museum 1926,1230.13]. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; John Gay. Engraved portrait, half-length, to right, wearing turban. By an unidentified engraver [not in Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits], published by John Wood, 1761. 7.6 x 14.1 cm. ; Athanasius Kircher. Engraved portrait, bust, to right, wearing cornered hat. Engraved by Johann Friedrich Schmidt after C. Bloemaert [Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Inventar-Nr. A 11048.] 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Jean Baptiste Lully. Engraved portrait, bust, to left, looking forward, wearing long wig, in oval. By an unidentified engraver. Cut down to 10.5 x 17.5 cm with caption mounted separately below image. ; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Engraved portrait at age 27, bust, left profile, in oval. Engraved by C. A. Schwerdgeburth after Chodowiecky and G. M. Kraus [Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig G II/14]. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; Engraving entitled "View of the Orchestra in Vauxhall Garden." Showing ladies and gentlemen standing and walking in a garden, listening to an orchestra and singer perform in an elevated pavilion. Published by J. Bew as frontispiece to the "Vocal Magazine," 1 May 1778. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron. Engraved portrait, bust-length to front, with head in three-quarter profile; wearing neckerchief and frill. Engraved by Thomas Blood after Richard Westall and published by James Asperne as illustration to the 'European Magazine,' 1814 [British Museum 1868,0808.1399]. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ; John Gay. Engraved portrait, bust, to left, wearing turban, in oval. Engraved by P. Rothwell after W. Aikman and published by Harrison & co., 1795 [Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits no. 2]. 6.5 x 8 cm. ; Thomas D'Urfey. Engraved portrait, half-length, in profile to the left, holding two closed books under left arm, and reading sheet of music held in right hand. Engraved by Charles Pye after J. Thurston and published by W. Walker, 1821 [British Museum 1920,1211.527]. 10.5 x 17.5 cm. ETC. ETC. ETC.!