Sitting beside me on the desk a copy of Robert Bigio’s long-awaited book: “Readings in the History of the Flute : Monographs, essays, reviews, letters and advertisements from nineteenth century London”. Certainly a book you can’t afford to be without if you have any interest in London-made flutes, or indeed flutes in general. It contains hard-to-find publications by Nicholson, James, Annand, Ward, Clinton, Carte, Skeffington and Boehm, as well as a “miscellany” of advertisements, letters, magazine accounts and reviews, etc etc. Images of many of these great characters too.
You can get a copy through the publisher, “Tony Bingham” <tony@oldmusicalinstruments.co.uk>, or directly from the good Doctor himself (oops, did I let something else slip? Tsk tsk, I’m always so clumsy with legumes!), Robert Bigio <Robert@bigio.com>. This latter course also gives you the opportunity to plead for a signed copy!
Let me be the first to congratulate Robert here on the publication of the book and upon his elevation.
Now you’ll have to excuse me, I have a book to read …
Robert’s site uses the same font as yours, Terry. What’s up with that? A pact among gentletooters?
Was thinking of making a wooden headjoint stopper, speaking of Robert.
Robert told me some time ago that the portrait was located by a friend of his, who then realized it was Nicholson. It was then donated or loaned to the National Gallery in London.
On Nicholson’s portrait, did you notice the shape and position of the long F key? It is placed exactly like Terry believed it would be, by studying his flutes. (See “Aha!”) On this portrait, the tone holes are probably not in line…
one man out of ten played the flute in London in 1829… 
oh…I see…in that case I was born at the wrong place at the right time…
