Harps and Harpists

An extensive history of the harp from antiquity to present day, revised by the author.

Revising her classic 1989 book Harps and Harpists, Roslyn Rensch expands her authoritative history of this timeless instrument. This lavishly illustrated edition, with 137 black-and-white images and twenty-four color plates, surveys the progress of the harp from antiquity to the present day. The new edition includes two new chapters; an extensive bibliography and index; personal anecdotes of the author’s studies under Alberto Salvi; and an appendix on the Roslyn Rensch Papers and Harp Collection, which are housed at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign.

“The 2007 revision of Harps and Harpists by Roslyn Rensch is the fourth in its line by the author. Even cursory glances at the precursors of the present work show her lifetime odyssey and love affair with her instrument, and make interesting comparisons with one another.” —Notes