106 BULLETIN 136, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The first great manufacturer of spinets was Hans Rucker, of Ant- 

 werp, who lived about 1579. The work was continued by his son, 

 Andreas, in 1620, and by English makers a century later.' The 

 compass of the instrument was three and one-half to five octaves 

 and, as indicated, it had one string to each key. Sometimes a small 

 instrument, tuned an octave higher than the large instrument, was 

 slipped into the frame at one end of the kej'board. This could be 

 taken out and placed on a table so that the performer could play both 

 instruments with more convenience. Elaborate paintings adorn 

 many of the old spinets. 



A transverse or wing-shaped spinet (95828, pi. 48) was made by 

 Joseph Mahoon, London, in 1797, and was given to the Museum by 

 H. A. and F. H. Vinton, of Bedford Village, N. Y. It has one 

 wire to each key, picked by jacks with quill points. 



A fine Italian virginal (95828, pi. 49) was made by Joannes Bap- 

 tista Bonomen in 1602. The original color of the case was blue 

 green. On the inside of the cover may still be seen the paintings of 

 old musical instruments and a scene representing the sports and pas- 

 times of the seventeenth century. 



A virginal of the seventeenth century (95236), collected in Flor- 

 ence by Dr. G. Brown Goode, is also called a spinetta a baule. It has 

 a cylindrical hinged cover something like that of a trunk, hence 

 the Italian designation, " baule." The strings are of brass and steel 

 wires, one to each key, and the spines on the jacks are of hard leather. 

 Originally it had four legs, screwed into the body of the instrument. 



HARPSICHORD 



The harpsichord appeared at about the same time as the spinet 

 and had the same method of tone production, the string being 

 twanged by a quill set in an upright wooden " jack " at the end of the 

 key bar. It was, however, a much more elaborate instrument than 

 the spinet and had two, three, or even four strings to a tone. An 

 early name was " arpicordo," the letter " s " seeming to have been 

 added to the term in England. With three strings it was, of course, 

 necessary to have three jacks and a variety of tone was produced by 

 having two of these of leather and one of stiff quill. 



In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the harpsichord occupied 

 the place of honor among keyboard instruments which the concert 

 grand piano holds at the present time. It was not so much a solo 

 instrument as the grand piano, but was an important member of the 

 orchestra, having wide and varied resources of tonal effects. Its 

 complex nature, which will be indicated, required a larger case than 

 the spinet and different in shape. To meet this requirement a form 

 was devised which is now the shape of the grand piano. 



