In MMD for 8/24, Colin Hinz says,

> A few years ago I was exploring the Faculty of Music library at the
> University of Toronto (Canada), and I spotted a 500+ page volume,
> entirely about the Componium. ...

Dear Colin:  I would be perfectly happy to be corrected in my belief
that Rene Lyr's description of the Componium is the most detailed one
in existence, but having some Missourian in me, I'd like to see the
book to which you refer.

I can find no reference to such a book (500+ pages and devoted entirely
to the Componium) in any of the extant bibliographies.  I don't find it
listed in Ord-Hume's works.  More tellingly, one of the most prominent
scholars in the field, Jan Jaap Haspels, does not list any such book in
the bibliography of his recent publication, Automatic Musical
Instruments...

I find it hard to believe that Haspels would be unaware of such a book,
especially if it were, in fact, published in the <<Low Countries>>.
It's also hard to understand how one could write for 500 pages on the
Componium alone--it IS a complex mechanism, but not THAT complex.

Since you made no notes on the book and do not recall the language it
was written in, is it possible that you are recalling some other book?
For example, Buchner's Mechanical Musical Instruments, while far short
of 500+ pages, is a large book (13.5"x10" in its English translation)
which contains some information on the Componium and schematics on
musical notation and pinning.

It would seem the question can be resolved by an appeal to the music
librarian at the University of Toronto.  Perhaps you would be willing
to verify your recollection and give us the full particulars on this
book.  Perhaps, too, some other MMD reader knows of this work.

Colin, your recollection may very well be correct, and my request for
a validation of it is not meant as an affront to you.  I ask it only in
the interests of scholarship and historical accuracy.

With best regards,

Joe Roesch