I offer a selection of new and secondhand books.
New for July 2021: Sylvia Crawford, An Introduction to Old Irish Harp Playing Techniques
Please get in touch if you want more information, or recommendations for reading.
How to order:
Send an email to shop@simonchadwick.net, or phone or text me, telling me what you would like.
Please note: postage is charged extra. Click here for payment information.
If you are not sure what you need, still get in touch and ask me. There is no commitment to place an order; just call or email and see if the price and description is really what you are after. I am happy to recommend other sellers who might have what you need.
The following titles are currently in stock; others may also be available.
| Abbie Betinis | Aililú, Ó Íosa, I. An Caoineadh | £5 | Score for harp, vielle and choir |
| Alison Kinnaird | Reflections | £12 | Album of visual art, includes DVD. |
| Andrew Lawrence-King | Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz, Luz y Norte Musical | £8 | Arrangements of tunes |
| Andrew Lawrence-King | Der Hapffenschlaeger | £8 | Techniques for early harps |
| Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius | Fundamentals of Music | £120 | 1989 hardback first edition. English translation of “De Musica” by Calvin M. Bower |
| Ann Heymann | Legacy of the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival | £8 | Arrangements of tunes |
| Ann Heymann | A Gaelic Harper’s First Tunes | £50 | Secondhand paperback |
| Ann Heymann | Off the Record | £8 | Arrangements of tunes |
| Arthur O’Neill | Memoirs | £10 | Paperback booklet, reprint of the 1911 text from Annals of the Irish harpers |
| Barry Cunliffe | The Celts – a very short introduction | £8 | 2003 paperback |
| Bill Taylor | Early Scottish Airs for small wire strung clarsach | £15 | Arrangements of tunes |
| Breandán Ó Madagáin | Caointe agus seancheolte eile / keening and other old Irish musics | £19 | Paperback with CD |
| Cedric Thorpe Davie | Scotland’s Music | £6 | 1980 paperback first edition. A slim overview |
| Charlotte Milligan Fox | Annals of the Irish Harpers | £150 | 1917 John Murray hardback reprint of 1911 original. Includes Arthur O’Neill, Memoirs, as well as extracts from Edward Bunting’s correspondence, and illustrations. |
| Christine Y Delyn | Cláirseach, la harpe Irlandaise, aux origines de la harpe celtique | £10 | 1998 paperback in French |
| Claire Polin | The ap Huw manuscript | £120 | 1982 hardback, published by the Institute of Medieval Music. Edition of the music |
| Colm Ó Baoill | Bàrdachd Shìlis na Ceapaich, poems and songs by Sìleas McDonald | £23 | 1972 hardback |
| Dáibhí Ó Cróinín | A New History of Ireland 1: Prehistoric and Early Ireland | £30 | paperback |
| Daniel Tokar and Ann Heymann | Dialogue on historical wire for Gaelic harps | £13 | 2011 paperback |
| David Johnson | Scottish fiddle music in the eighteenth century | £25 | 2005 edition. Includes historical commentary and editions of music |
| Denis Rixson | The West Highland Galley | £5 | paperback, history of boats |
| Derick Thomson | An Introduction to Gaelic Poetry | £5 | Secondhand paperback |
| Donal O’Sullivan | Carolan, the Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper | £50 | Secondhand 2 vol paperback (1983 reprint of original edition) |
| Donal O’Sullivan (not attributed) | Complete Collection of the Much Admired Old Irish Tunes The Original and Genuine Compositions of Carolan… suitable for most instruments | £20 | Secondhand paperback. 1984 reprint of the tunes from O’Sullivan’s Life Times & Music with a new introduction by Gráinne Yeats. |
| Donal O’Sullivan with Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin | Bunting’s Ancient Music of Ireland edited from the original manuscripts | £120 | 1983 hardback. Editions of tunes with commentary |
| Edward Bunting | The Ancient Music of Ireland | £350 | 1840 first edition |
| Edward Bunting | The Ancient Music of Ireland | £20 | Dover paperback facsimile (secondhand) |
| Edward Bunting | General Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland | £70 | 2012 hardback reprint of 1811 reprint of 1809 edition, published by the Linen hall Library |
| Edward Bunting | A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music… | £70 | 1996 Linen Hall Library limited edition paperback facsimile of 1797 original |
| Edward Bunting | General Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland | £350 | 1809 first edition in original printed boards |
| Eugene O’Curry | On the Manners and Customs of the Early Irish volume 3 | £10 | Cheap modern paperback reprint of 1873 original (volume 3 of 3 only) |
| Fintan Vallely | The Companion to Irish Traditional Music | £20 | Secondhand hardback, 1999 edition |
| Frances Tolmie | One hundred and five songs of occupation from the western isles of Scotland | £5 | 1997 paperback reprint of 1911 edition. Song words, translations, tunes and commentary |
| George Stevens | The Irish Harp, its History, Players and Technique | £17 | Spiral bound dissertation |
| Gerald of Wales | The History and Topography of Ireland | £10 | Penguin paperback translation of Giraldus Cambrensis |
| Gerald of Wales | The Journey through Wales and the Description of Wales | £11 | Penguin paperback translation of Giraldus Cambrensis |
| Gráinne Yeats | The Harp of Ireland. The Belfast Harper’s Festival and the saving of Ireland’s harp music by Edward Bunting | £15 | 1992 paperback |
| Helen Lawlor | Irish harping 1900-2010 | £35 | 2012 hardback. |
| Hélène Witcher | Madame Scotia, Madam Scrap. The story of Héloïse Russell-Fergusson 1896-1970 | £12 | 2017 paperback |
| Hugh Cheape | Bagpipes – a national collection of a national instrument | £16 | includes CD-ROM |
| Huw Roberts & Llio Rhydderch | Telynorion Llannerch-y-Medd / The harpers of Llannerch-y-Medd | £10 | 2000 paperback edition. Unfortunately missing its accompanying CD. 19th and early 20th century Welsh harp traditions. |
| James A. H. Murray | The romance and prophecies of Thomas of Erceldoune | £11 | 1991 reprint of 1875 scholarly edition of long medieval poem |
| James Porter (ed) | Defining Strains – The musical life of Scots in the seventeenth century | £55 | 2007 paperback collection of essays |
| Joan Rimmer | The Irish Harp – Cláirseach na hÉireann | £35 | I usually have various editions available |
| John C Hines | Early Music for the Wire Harp | £15 | Arrangements of tunes |
| John J. O’Meara (trans) | The voyage of Saint Brendan | £5 | paperback translation of medieval text |
| John Magee | The Heritage of the Harp | £10 | 1992 paperback about the 1792 Belfast festival and associated events |
| John Purser | Scotland’s Music | £100 | 1992 hardback first edition, also 2007 hardback second edition |
| John T. Koch | The Gododdin of Aneirin | £110 | Secondhand 1997 paperback. Translation and edition of medieval poem |
| Johnson & Boswell | A tour to the Hebrides | £15 | Old Oxford University Press blue hardback of R.W. Chapman’s editions of both texts. Includes map |
| Julian Atterton | The last harper | £5 | Children’s novel, secondhand paperback |
| Karen Marshalsay | Guid Scots Sangs | £12 | Arrangements of tunes |
| Karen Marshalsay | Key Techniques for Harp | £12 | Method book |
| Kuno Meyer | Sanas Cormaic (Cormac’s Glossary) | £5 | 1994 paperback reprint of 1913 Irish scholarly edition |
| Liam P. Ó Murchú (ed) | Amhráin Chearbhalláin / The Poems of Carolan: Reassessments | £25 | |
| Linda Gowans | Am Bròn Binn | £15 | Scholarly analysis of Scottish Gaelic ballad song |
| Malachi McCormick | The Roots of Music: The Irish Harp in Poetry & Legend. | £30 | Three handmade booklets in slipcase. Poems and commentary |
| Mark Everist | The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Music | £22 | 2011 paperback |
| Martha Goodway & Jay Scott Odell | The Historical Harpsichord volume two: The metallurgy of 17th and 18th century music wire | £33 | Technical study of old strings |
| Martin van Schaik | The harp in the middle ages: the symbolism of a musical instrument | £45 | Scholarly study of visual symbolism and depictions. 1992 first edition paperback. Also revised edition 2005. |
| Michael Praetorius | Syntagma Musicum II De Organographia Parts I and II | £27 | Tranlated by David Z Crookes from the 17th century original. Includes the illustrations |
| Mike Parker | Child of Pure Harmony – a source book for the single-action harp | £14 | 2005 paperback. A digest of early 19th century harp methods |
| Murray Lefkowitz | Musica Britannica 21: William Lawes Select Consort Music | £75 | Large format paperback, 1963 edition of consort music |
| Nancy Bond | A string in the harp | £5 | Children’s novel, secondhand paperback |
| Nancy Hurrell | The Egan Irish harps | £43 | 2019 hardback |
| Nicholas Carolan | John & William Neal, A Collection of the most celebrated Irish tunes proper for the violin, German flute or hautboy, Dublin 1724 | £40 | 2010 hardback edition, complete facsimile with detailed introduction, notes and commentary. |
| Nora Joan Clark | The story of the Irish harp, its history and influence | £20 | Paperback |
| Osian Ellis | Hanes y Delyn yng Nghymru / The Story of the Harp in Wales | £25 | 1980 paperback first edition |
| Patricia Finney | A Shadow of Gulls | £20 | Children’s novel. Secondhand first edition hardback |
| Patrick McDonald | The Patrick McDonald Collection: Highland vocal airs, Country dances or Reels of the north Highlands and Western Isles (first published 1784) | £19 | 2000 paperback edition from Taigh na Teud |
| Peter Downey | Edward Bunting and the Ancient Irish Music: The Publication History of A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music… Adapted for Piano-Forte (London, Preston & Son) | £16 | Scholarly study of the publication of Bunting’s 1797 book |
| Rauno Nieminen | Jouhikko – The Bowed Lyre | £44 | Includes audio CD. The complete practical guide to this Scandinavian bowed instrument. |
| Robert ap Huw | Musica | £25 | Hardback facsimile of the 17th century manuscript |
| Robert Bruce Armstrong | The Irish and Highland Harps | £150 | 1969 Praeger hardback facsimile of 1904 original. Includes fold-out plates |
| Robert Phillips | Music for the Lute in Scotland | £11 | Transcriptions of Scottish lute music |
| Roderick Cannon (ed.) | Joseph MacDonald’s Compleat Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe (c.1760) | £35 | Large-format paperback. 1994 edition of the original manuscript (2010 reprint) |
| Ronn McFarlane | Highland King | £14 | Transcriptions of Scottish lute music |
| Roy Johnston | Bunting’s Messiah | £10 | Musical biography of Edward Bunting detailing his diverse musical activities |
| Russell Walton | A Harp of Fishbones | £25 | Myths and legends. Secondhand paperback |
| Sally Harper | Music in Welsh Culture before 1650: A study of the principal sources | £110 | 2007 hardback |
| Sandra Joyce & Helen Lawlor | Harp Studies | £40 | 2016 hardback. Includes Paul Dooley The Harp in the time of Giraldus, and Ann Heymann three iconic Gaelic harp pieces |
| Séamus Ó Brógáin | The Wolfhound guide to the Irish harp emblem | £10 | Slim paperback |
| Seán O Boyle | Ogam, the poet’s secret | £50 | 1980 paperback first edition |
| Sebastian Virdung | Musica Getutscht | £28 | A treatise on musical instruments (1511) Edited and translated by Beth Bullard. Paperback |
| Sharan Newman | The Dagda’s harp | £10 | Children’s novel. Secondhand ex-library hardback |
| Simon Chadwick | Progressive Lessons | £20 | Sources for learning old Irish harp, includes CD |
| Simon Chadwick | The Trinity College or Brian Boru harp | £10 | Illustrated Pamphlet |
| Simon Chadwick | The Queen Mary harp | £10 | Illustrated Pamphlet |
| Simon Fraser | The Airs and Melodies peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles | £14 | Spiral bound facsimile of 1874 piano collection |
| Simon James | The Atlantic Celts – Ancient people or modern invention? | £12 | Secondhand 1999 paperback first edition (British Museum Press) |
| Somhairle Mac Ghill Eathain (Sorley MacLean) | Dain do Eimhir agus Dain Eile | £150 | 1943 hardback first edition, ex-library. Modernist Scottish Gaelic poems with illustrations by William Crosbie |
| Stuart Eydmann | In Good Hands – The Clarsach Society and the Renaissance of the Scottish harp | £13 | 2017 paperback |
| Thomas Forest Kelly | Early Music, a very short introduction | £8 | Paperback |
| Tom Maher | The Harp’s a wonder | £10 | Secondhand paperback, General overview |
| Tomás Ó Canainn | Traditional music in Ireland | £10 | 1993 paperback reprint of very important 1978 overview text. |
| Tomás Ó Máille (ed) | Amhráin Chearbhalláin: The Poems of Carolan | £42 | Hardback reprint, in Irish |
| Wayne Cripps | The Straloch Manuscript | £25 | Transcriptions of Scottish lute music |
| Wayne Cripps | The Rowallan Manuscript | £25 | Transcriptions of Scottish lute music |
| William Donaldson | The Highland Pipe and Scottish Society 1750-1950 | £30 | Paperback. Excellent social history of music in Scotland. |
| William Lawes | The Harp Consorts | £40 | PRB Viol Concert Series No. 62B, full score and parts |
| William Matheson | The Blind Harper (an Clarsair Dall). The songs of Roderick Morison and his music | £23 | 1970 hardback |
| Early Music 7/4 October 1979 | £10 | Includes Michael Morrow, the Renaissance Harp | |
| Early Music 11/4 October 1983 | £10 | Includes correspondence from Hadaway | |
| Early Music 8/1 Januray 1980 | £10 | Includes Robert Hadaway, the recreation of an Italian Renaissance harp | |
| Early Music 11/1 January 1983 | £10 | Includes Robert Hadaway, A knot of harp strings | |
| Early Music 9/3 July 1981 | £10 | Includes correspondence from Hadaway | |
| Early Music 8/4 October 1980 | £10 | Includes observations from Hobrough | |
| Early Music 11/3 July 1983 | £10 | Includes correspondence from Ann Buckley | |
| Early Music 15/4 November 1987 | £10 | Includes correspondence from Layton Ring | |
| Early Music 36/4 November 2008 | £10 | Includes Simon Chadwick, The early Irish harp | |
| Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, 42, Winter 2001 | £5 | Includes Sally Harper, So how many Irishmen went to Glyn Achlach? Early accounts of the formation of Cerdd Dant | |
| Singing the Reformation | £4 | Edinburgh University exhibition brochure, 2011, about the Wode Partbooks | |
| Hanes Cerddoriaeth Cymru – Welsh Music History 6, 2004 | £15 | Includes Frans Buisman, A parallel between Scottish pibroch and early Welsh harp music | |
| Irish Musical Studies 10: Music, Ireland and the Seventeenth Century | £50 | 2009 hardback. Includes Adrian Scahill, Irish traditional music in the seventeenth century, and John Cunningham, the Irish harp in non-Irish contexts in the seventeenth century. | |
| The Stirling Heads | £10 | 1975 guide booklet includes a small photograph of each carving | |
| Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society vol 102, 1997 | £33 | Includes Diarmaid Ó Catháin’s article: Revd Charles Bunworth of Buttevant, patron of harpers and poets | |
| Irish Musical Studies 1: Musicology in Ireland | £30 | 1990 hardback. Includes Ann Buckey, Musical instruments in Ireland from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries | |
| Hands – Harp Making DVD | £20 | DVD film by David Shaw-Smith, about harpmaker Peter Kilroy | |
| Strangers to Citizens: The Irish in Europe 1600-1800 | £5 | National Library of Ireland exhibition papmphlet |