The Edgerton Mechanical Music Library
Specialized research library available for the ongoing study and research of mechanical musical instruments.
Fascinated by the Guinness Collection? Scholars are invited to take a deep dive in the Edgerton Mechanical Music Library.
The Edgerton Mechanical Music Library is dedicated to the study of mechanical musical instruments and automata. Donated to the Morris Museum in 2019 by collector William H. Edgerton, it contains approximately 6,000 items, including books, journals, magazines, newsletters, bulletins, directories, trade and auction catalogs, sound media, and period prints. As home to the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata, the Morris Museum is fortunate to have this specialized research library available for the ongoing study and research of the field.
The library, formerly the Mechanical Music Library International (MMLI), came together over a sixty-year period through major donations of material from Q. David Bowers, Emery Prior, Estate of Marvin Polan, Glen Jedlika, Elise Roenigk, Art Reblitz, Beatrice Farmer, Joseph Gilbert, Edward Schmidt, and Edgerton himself, a longtime collector of mechanical music and automata.
The Edgerton Mechanical Music Library is cataloged and searchable online. Although the library is not open to the general public, the Morris Museum welcomes inquiries for access by serious researchers.
