Mando history books...

[telepbrman]

I have not done a complete search yet, but fill me in on any Mando picture books or history books please. Thanks, dy.

[JimD]

Not sure exactly what you are looking for, but try these:

The Early Mandolin, by James Tyler and Paul Sparks, Oxford Univ. Press
ISBN 0-19-8163029

History of the Mandolin, By Konrad Wölki, Plucked String

[Eugene]

The Early Mandolin is excellent for those interested in mandolin-like things from antiquity to ca. 1830 or so. #There aren't that many images, but it is the best reference of its kind. #Paul Sparks did a follow up:

Sparks, P. 1995. The Classical Mandolin. Clarendon Press, Oxford. ASIN: 0198162952.

The Classical Mandolin currently is out of print, but a new paperback edition is promised in the very near future. #This picks up with the modern instrument where the last text left off and touches on the 6-string mandolino Lombardo.

Wölki (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/strings/searchdb.cgi?uid=default&view_records=1&keyword=History+of+the+Mandolin)'s little text is nice, but some of the knowledge base from which he worked is a little out of date now.

Stephen Morey wrote another fine book on early mandolins:

Morey, S. 1993. Mandolins of the 18th Century. Editrice Turris, Cremona. ASIN: 8879290657.

It essentially is a catalog of early mandolins in museum collections. #There are some line drawings and, if I recall correctly, a few black-and-white photographs. #I only have access to this text via university library systems. #I am desparate to own a copy. #If anybody can put me onto one, please let me know.

If you're keen on the players and composers, another historic classic is:

Bone, P.J. 1914/1954. Guitar & Mandolin: Biographies Of Celebrated Players & Composers. Schott & Co., Ltd., London.

Some of Bone's assertions are speculative, but this is still an excellent compendium of what had been to that time.

There are a couple nice mandolin image sections in a coffee-table book with a largely non-mandolin focus:

Gruhn, G. & W. Carter. 1997. Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments: A Photographic History. Backbeat Books, San Francisco. ISBN: 0879304936.

[Bob DeVellis]

Mandolin gets included in books about manufacturers of other stringed instruments (Martin, Gibson, Washburn, etc.)but it's rarely the featured instrument. There are scads of books on guitars, and mandolins occasionally show up as an after-thought.

[Eugene]

In that vein, I'm particularly fond of the couple pages mandolin receive in:

Washburn, J. & R. Johnston. 2003. Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker. ISBN: 0762104279.

...and the thorough documentation and catalog images provided by:

Longworth. M. 1988. Martin Guitars: A History, 3rd ed. Four Maples Press, Minisink Hills, PA. ASIN: 9993432288.

[telepbrman]

Great scoop, I'll dig around and see what I can find. Thanks dy.

[flairbzzt]

I recently e-mailed Martin with a question about my 2-15 and I got a very friendly response from customer service who offered me info on their history if I would like. After I responded positively, I received correspondence from Martin including copies of specs and photos of just about every mandolin they've put out. More than I thought they would do without a sales pitch or research fee...

[tiltman]

Don't overlook the Tone Poems CD - nice little book with pictures and you get to hear what they sound like!
Kirk

[Eugene]

I agree, the whole Tone Poems series is pretty groovy. However, the next one should focus on quality bowlbacks!