David, My favorite book is "Men, Women, and Pianos, A social history" by Arthur Loesser. It was used years ago in my piano history and development class. It is not only a history of piano evolution, but covers the history, politics and composers from the 17 hundreds in western Europe and the United States up to the present (1954) and how all these things combined to bring about what we know as a modern piano. It is very fun reading. The author really has a knack for making things humorous and educational all at once. A few others include: Oscar Bie-History of the Piano from 1706 to1990" Ernest Classon-History of the Piano Frank Hubbard-Three centuries of Harpsichord Making Phillip James-Early Keyboard Instruments Rosemond Harding-the Pianoforte Albert Wier- The Piano: Its History, Makers, Players and Music Raymond Russell-The Harpsichord and Clavichord N.E. Michel-Historic pianos, harpsichord and clavichords Herman Helmholtz-On Sensations of Tone That should give you lots of new reading for the John.
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