English collector James E. Matthew's The Literature of Music (1896) was one of the earliest attempts at identifying the most useful, interesting, and influential books on Western music. With the benefit of a historical perspective, Dr. Robert H. Cowden follows in Matthew's tradition, assembling a list of 122 significant works in music history, aesthetics, performance practice, instrument construction, theory, and pedagogy. Cowden is an Emeritus Professor of Music at San José State University and the author of eight books on musical institutions and performers, as well as an avid collector of music bibliography. In this book, he employs a combination of scholarly awareness and collector's passion to provide insightful commentary on these original sources of Western music literature. Each entry also includes a physical description and indicates the number of copies held in libraries worldwide. Most of these incredibly influential titles are largely underplayed in current music history texts, and yet they form the basis of various music traditions as they have evolved over the centuries.