Piano Atlas

[David Boyce]

Thanks for mentioning that Gregor.  I bought the European Piano Atlas years 
ago, a handy little volume.

There was also, published in 1981 with supplement in 1984, "The Musicians 
Piano Atlas" edited by S. K. Taylor and publshed in the UK by Omicron 
Publishing Limited.  Like the European Atlas, it has useful information, 
with some dates, on piano action makers and other things.  The supplement is 
called "Supplement Number 1": I think it was envisaged that there would be 
regular supplements. But it never happened.

I don't encounter a great many American pianos (used to see them when the US 
military base was here) and have found the Musicians Piano Atlas sufficient 
for my needs.  If I moved to the US or to an area wiuth lots of American 
pianos I would certainly buy a Pierce - and may indeed buy one in time for 
the sake of more up-to-date information on current makes.

Here is a thing to ponder then, folks:  Supposing I take my two non-Pierce 
piano atlases, and type out, in a huge table in my own style, all the dates 
and numbers for all the pianos, and put them on a website for all the world 
to see.  What interest will the publisher of Pierce have in that? I don't 
own a Pierce, have only ever in my life had brief glimpses inside a copy of 
pierce - and that in the 1980s - so in putting up my website, I have copied 
nothing from Pierce.

Ethically, I might be considered ungentlemanly, but LEGALLY, where would I 
stand in relation to Pierce? Nowhere!

Best regards,

David.

"Aside from the current discussion about the Pierce Atlas I would like to 
give you a hint to the existance of an European Atlas. Of course it has its 
focus on European pianos, but it might be helpful for you, too. It´s called 
Atlas der Pianonummern, is written by jan Großbach and is edited by Edition 
Bochinksy. What I really like: there are not only the numbers of the 
instruments, but also the numbers of actions and key frames (keyboards, 
keys?). So, if you have a no name piano with a Langer action that has a 
number, you can say when it was built. Furthermore, it has a good collection 
of the decals of many brands with their graphical logo. Sometimes you have a 
piano without a written name but with a decal on its frame. With that atlas 
you can find out the name of the brand.

And for those of you who can read German: there is a pretty cool Lexikon 
Deutscher Klavierbauer. It has tons of information about the brands. Founded 
or dissolved in which year, who was chairman, decorated with which medals, 
adresses and so on......

Both books are available at German piano part supliers like Jahn, 
Baumgärtel, Meyne and probably Renner too.

Gregor"