Dear fellow mechanical music enthusiasts,  As most of you will know,
the largest Belgian firm that built dance organs and orchestrions was
the firm of Theophile Mortier in Antwerp.  In 2019, it is 100 years ago
that Theophile Mortier transformed his firm into a limited liability
company (Société Anonyme in French), which ensured that the "Usines
Th. Mortier s.a." could continue to develop and build new instruments.
In 2019 it is also 75 years ago that the founder of the company died
-- on 28 December 1944, to be precise.

Over a period of nearly 50 years, hundreds of large Mortier dance
organs and orchestrions were built.  Many of those have survived the
times, albeit rarely in original condition.  Moreover, a lot of them
were rebuilt into street organs or were used for parts in other
instruments.  Fortunately, other Mortier organs found their way to large
collections, especially in the USA and the UK, where they were or are
treasured.

In the past, some enthusiasts have collected essential information on
the firm and its instruments.  The pioneer in this field was Roger
Duerinck in Wuustwezel, Belgium (1922-1998), who wrote down a lot of
valuable data on file cards and also collected as many photographs
as possible.  This work was continued by Jack Jacobs in Breda, The
Netherlands.  Other people, like Karel Beunis, also did valuable
research in archives and wrote down information given to them by
former Mortier employees.

In the past, more than once a project was undertaken to write a book
on the history of the Mortier firm and its instruments, but it was
never finished, partly because a lot of details were still unclear.
However, the internet has made the international exchange of
information much easier, and therefore Ruud Brienen -- a committee
member of the Dutch society Kring van Draaiorgelvrienden -- decided
to start up the "Mortier book project" again.

In the past year and a half, a team of enthusiasts under the direction
of well-known arranger Tom Meijer has managed to compile the book,
"The Mortier Story", and if all goes as expected, the book will be
presented in the Draaiorgelmuseum in Haarlem, The Netherlands, on
Saturday, 19 October, at 3:00 P.M.

The book covers the history of the Mortier family, the firm and the
instruments, and includes the description of most known large Mortier
dance organs and a lot of orchestrions.  It is 440 pages long and is
illustrated with well over 900 photographs, many of which haven't been
published before.  There is also a colour supplement at the end of the
book.

The book has an English translation, alongside the Dutch text, which
will hopefully help to spread this work internationally.  The goal
of the book is not only to preserve what we know about Mortier and
his instruments, but also to encourage the interest in Mortier organs
and other mechanical instruments with other people, especially the
generations to come.

When the book has been officially presented, it will be available in,
amongst others, the online shop of the Dutch society Kring van
Draaiorgelvrienden (KDV), https://www.draaiorgel.org/  and through
other channels.  The price has been set at € 40.00 but members of the
Kring van Draaiorgelvrienden get a discount when ordering through the
webshop: they only pay € 30.00 (provided they can show their KDV
membership card).  This price does not include shipping.

Of course, a book like this is never complete nor perfect: therefore,
we have set up a website at https://www.thmortier.be/  where additions,
corrections, photos, &tc will be published.  You can find more details
about the book, including a few sample pages, on the mentioned website.

Kind regards,
Björn Isebaert & "The Mortier Story" team
bjorn.isebaert@telenet.be.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

 [ "Led by Tom Meijer, a team consisting of Jack Jacobs, Jan Kees
 [ de Ruijter, Björn Isebaert and Maarten Van der Vlugt worked hard
 [ last year to compile the long-awaited book about the Mortier company.
 [ The book also contains an English translation in parallel with the
 [ Dutch text, which will undoubtedly contribute to the international
 [ dissemination of information in the work.  The translations were
 [ provided by Andrew Pilmer, Russell Wattam, Tom Meijer and Björn
 [ Isebaert."  Ref. https://www.thmortier.be/index.php/nl/  -- Robbie