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Musical Instruments, Historic, Rare and Unique.

Music is never boring. Often controversial, it can be guaranteed to affect a response of some kind in most listeners - and often a different response from different people. Music can be passionately enjoyed by one listener, and also total irritation to someone else.

Not only can a musical composition be the subject of disparate views, the way an instrument is played can also cause quite a variety of reactions. Skill in playing a musical instrument and the actual performance of the musician are both important in playing a composition - for the audience’s enjoyment, as well as for the satisfaction of the musician.

Add to these variables the tone and quality of any musical instrument, and the difference between performances of one musical composition can be quite profound.

Rarely seen, currently exhibited for sale at Antique Print & Map Company in Brisbane,are the original chromolithographs circa 1888 “Musical Instruments, Historic, Rare and Unique” by Alfred James Hipkins, William Gibb... and Robert Glen. Their existence entails one of the more interesting stories of importance in the world of music and art. These fine lithographs would not have been published but for a father’s cautious wisdom.
 
Alfred James Hipkins (1826-1903) was born at Westminster in London. His wish to become an artist after finishing his schooling was rejected by his father who considered tuning pianos a more dependable occupation. Young Alfred was advised that if he still wished, he might engage himself in the Fine Arts when he turned seventeen.

In 1836 Henry Fowler Broadwood joined the oldest established piano manufacturer in the world, John Broadwood and Sons. Not yet fourteen years old, Alfred Hipkins was one of the factory workers he employed. Alfred’s daily work with piano keyboards inspired him to learn to play the instrument. Beginning with the 24 major and minor scales that he taught himself from Cramer’s Instruction Book, he then received instruction from a Mr Fentum who had a music shop in the Strand, and played the flute at the old Opera House in Haymarket. By the end of three months Alfred was accompanying his teacher’s flute solos. Fentum introduced Hipkins to all kinds of music, and Hipkins independently studied the works of the great pianists. During 1844 he also studied the organ under Marcellus Higgs.

Despite his lack of formal musical education, Hipkins was a talented pianist. His main energies however, were devoted to the study of the science of music, and the history and quality of keyboard instruments. Writing profusely on these subjects, he contributed to major publications and encyclopaedias. In 1881 he examined historic pianofortes in the royal palaces of Germany. “The Musical Times, and Singing-Class Circular” of September 1, 1898 in London referred to Hipkins as “the greatest authority in this country - if not in the wide world - on the pianoforte and its precursors” and said that “his knowledge of the subject was not only encyclopaedic, but absolutely reliable in everything appertaining to the history and construction of all keyboard instruments, and much more besides.”

In 1879, Robert Glen, an instrument maker in Edinburgh, had shown his drawings of ancient musical instruments to Alfred Hipkins, who praised Glen’s skill and the accuracy of his drawings. In 1884 Glen issued a prospectus for his proposed publication of “Ancient Musical Instruments: a series of watercolours by Robert Glen, Musical Instrument Maker, Edinburgh”. Modelled on Drummond’s “Ancient Scottish Weapons”, Glen intended to publish 500 copies of lithographs of 50 instruments. Hipkins offered to write a preface for this publication, and to assist with descriptions.
 
Glen commissioned William Gibb, who had lithographed the weapons for “Ancient Scottish Weapons”, to produce chromolithographs from his drawings of musical instruments. In addition to 43 of his watercolours, to assist Gibb in the production of the lithographic plates, Glen lent him a number of rare historic musical instruments that he and his brother John had collected. Apparently Gibb persuaded Robert Glen to sell the unfinished work (plates, text, and rights to publication) to the publishers Alexander and Charles Black. Hipkins then requested Glen to pay for his descriptions of the instruments. With his agreement to this, Hipkins revised the work already done by Robert and John Glen.

Hipkins’ involvement with the Musical Instruments at the International Invention Exhibition in London in 1885 caused a delay to publication, but it would also have been a great assistance in the ultimate accuracy of the illustrations. In 1888 A.J. Hipkins finalized the production of the chromolithographs by William Gibb, printed by M’Lagan and Cumming and published by A. & C. Black in Edinburgh. No doubt Robert Glen’s knowledge and love of ancient instruments prompted the work, and many watercoloured drawings were contributed by Glen, but Hipkins’ involvement resulted in a grander work and lithographs now considered the most authoritative illustrations ever published on ancient musical instruments
- including a wide range of string instruments, keyboards, wind, and percussion. Wide interest in these fine illustrations has seen them republished twice, in London, in 1921 and 1945. The original lithographs circa 1888 are now on exhibit.