The wide scope of references included texts about the guitar and vihuela written in Catalan, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish (including Central and South American countries), Swedish, and Ukrainian. The exclusion of exhibition catalogs of instrument collections and museum catalogs is a major disadvantage. In light of the ever-increasing interest in early music, it is important that such reference tools include the locations of extant, representative instruments. Considering the diverse language sources listed above, this is a major flaw.

The layout of the book is straightforward. There is a three-section introduction in which the author discusses the historiography of the guitar and vihuela, presents how to identify and locate music for the two instruments, and explains the purpose, contents, and organization of the bibliography. McCutcheon explains that she lists only the general articles about the guitar and vihuela which are found in two major sources, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London: Macmillan, 1980) and Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1956). “Biographical articles on composers and performers in guitar history with bibliographies of music and literature are also cited in these works,” she notes, but are not listed in her book. The reader is referred, instead, to reviews by Peter Danner and John Duarte in recent issues of Soundboard magazine, for “further evaluation of the inadequacies of Grove.”

McCutcheon also lists where she did her research. All of the libraries — as well as the services of the Guitar Foundation of America, the interlibrary loan system of the New York Public Library, and the resources of University Microfilms International — are located in the United States. There is no mention of
European or South American libraries. This is a major drawback for a reference tool of such scope. For example, only one article about guitar makers of Argentina is included, and it is not Argentine, but rather American (Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar, LXVI/765, Jan. 1965). The same problem can be cited for Spanish makers, where of five sources only two are from Spain itself.

In chapters II through VII one finds lists of studies of specific individuals. However, individual luthiers are not listed under their appropriate historical period, as are composers and performers, but rather in the last chapter, “Design and Construction.” Among the luthiers included are Joachim Tielke, Antonio de Torres, and C.F. Martin, as well as a long list of 20th century luthiers that includes the Ramírez family, Hermann Hauser, and David Rubio. In the same chapter is a section listing dictionaries of luthiers. Rene Vannes’ well-known book, Dictionnaire universel des luthiers, is listed there, but dictionaries of Italian luthiers are not; they are found under Italy in the second chapter, “National Histories.” Thankfully, every entry is numbered consecutively and cross-references are easily located.

It is difficult to overlook the failure to list American Lutherie, the journal of the Guild of American Luthiers, in Appendix I: “Periodicals Devoted to the Guitar and Other Fretted Instruments.” Another important source not listed is the new book, The Guitar Bibliography, by Werner Schwarz (Munich: K.G. Saur, 1984). On the other hand, it is refreshing to find a source that lists references concerning American popular music. In particular, there are references to the American Guild of Banjoists, Mandolinists, and Guitarists, as well as important American performers within that society such as guitarists William Foden and George C. Krick. Many such references are found in major, turn-of-the-century periodicals that dealt with the then-popular mandolin orchestras, The Cadenza, The Crescendo, and Frets.

In conclusion, Ms. McCutcheon’s bibliography is a good general reference tool, which, although it has flaws, can yield rewarding information. It falls short of being a thorough international bibliography, but will prove valuable to guitar and vihuela teachers, students, and luthiers.