Musick's Monument; or, a Remembrancer of the Best Practical Musick, both Divine, and Civil, that has ever been known, to have been in the World. Divided into Three Parts. The First Part, Shews a Necessity of Singing Psalms Well, in Parochial Churches, or not to Sing at all; Directing, how They may be Well Sung, Certainly; by Two several Ways, or Means; with an Assurance of a Perpetual National-Quire; and also shewing, How Cathedral Musick, may be much Improved, and Refined. The Second Part, Treats of the Noble Lute, (the Best of Instruments) now made Easie; and all Its Occult-Lock'd-up-Secrets Plainly laid Open, never before Discovered; . Directing the most Ample Way, for the use of the Theorboe . Shewing a General Way of Procuring Inventio

Folio. Full dark brown diced calf with decorative diamond shaped design within octagonal double-rules, both with small decorative circles gilt at points, raised bands on spine in gilt-ruled compartments, dark brown title label gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers. 1f. (recto blank, verso frontispiece portrait of Mace by W. Faithorne after Hen. Cooke), 1f. (recto title, verso blank), [i] ("The Epistle Dedicatory"), [iii] ("An Epistle to all Divine Readers"), [v] ("The Preface"), [ii] ("A Short Epistle of Thankfulness, To all my Noble Subscribers"), [iv] ("The Subscribers Names"), [i] (blank), [i] ("A Short Epistle to the Reader, concerning the Authors several Reasons for Writing This Book"), [i] ("An Advertisement, Concerning the Value and Price of the Book"), 272 pp. Musical examples throughout. With decorative woodcut initials and headpieces. With a list of distinguished subscribers including [Sir] Isaac Newton ("Mr's of Arts, and Fellows"), James Lawes and Thomas Lawes ("Masters in Musick"). With three full-page engraved plates, as follows: - A 50-stringed lute that Mace called a dyphone, or double-lute (a combination lute/theorbo) designed to compensate for the author's increasing deafness (p. 32) - A "Description of a Musick-Room" demonstrating Mace's interest in acoustic challenges (p. 239) - A table organ, together with a considerable quantity of lute music in tablature, some composed by Mace (p. 243) With early signature "B. Barker" to head of preliminary leaf and dense manuscript notes in an early hand (in all likelihood Barker's) to verso of free front endpaper and blank recto of following leaf regarding "the Fingerboard of the Lute," complete with illustration depicting the "Open Strings" to the "9th Fret." Together with an oblong octavo leaf in early manuscript identified as being "The Notation from The Tablature, p. 121 His Mistress." Binding very slightly worn, rubbed, and bumped; skillfully rebacked; endpapers slightly worn and stained. Minor wear' light uniform browning; p. 154 mis-numbered 159 and p. 159 mis-numbered 154. A very good, wide-margined, and crisp copy overall, with strong impression. First Edition. Cortot p. 117. Gregory-Bartlett p. 160. Hirsch I, 334. Wolffheim I, 793. RISM Ecrits pp. 523-524. With portrait in first state (distinguished by the use of "Clericus" instead of "Clerici" at foot). Mace was a noted English lutenist, composer, singer, and writer. This important source of information on music in England during the second and third quarters of the 17th century is written in a highly readable, idiosyncratic style, presented in three parts. The first discusses psalm singing and the music of the parochial and cathedral churches; the second, and major, part of the work is entitled The Lute made Easie, and discusses the choosing of an instrument, tuning, repairing, performing on, and composing for the lute, with extensive musical examples and works for performance in lute tablature; the third part concerns the viol and includes a discussion of performance practice of consort music.…