This comprehensive gathering of music acquisitions housed at the British Library is one of the world's finest collections of European music manuscripts. Consisting of sources of outstanding quality, including Beethoven autographs, Mozart manuscripts, Hummel's entire cannon and one of the world's most important Haydn archives, this wide-ranging selection of music offers scholars and musicologists access to unique primary sources from many of the world's greatest composers.

French music is represented by nine Lully manuscripts, ten manuscripts of French songs, five Motets à Grands Choeurs by Mondonville, three Méhul manuscripts, a Gluck autograph, songs by J.J. Rousseau and operas by Grétry.

German and Austrian music contains 29 Beethoven manuscripts, including autograph sketches, one of the world's most important Haydn collections, with 23 manuscripts, including all the London symphonies, 37 Mozart manuscripts, the Dragonetti opera collection and the autographs of chamber works and motets among them.

There are also ten Schubert manuscripts, including dances for piano and An die Musik, two Mendelssohn autographs, and, among many others, manuscripts by Mayerbeer, Pachelbel, Schumann, J.C., C.P.E. and J.S. Bach.

The largest single collection within the program is the sequence of 53 Hummel manuscripts, mostly autograph, covering nearly his entire canon.

Series One: 64 reels in four units

Unit One: Manuscripts from Egerton, King's, Sloane, Stowe and Additional Manuscripts
18 reels

Unit Two: Additional Manuscripts (29906-32191)
15 reels

Unit Three: Additional Manuscripts (32192-36297)
18 reels

Unit Four: Additional Manuscripts (36738-81879), Printed Books, Royal Manuscripts and Zweig Manuscripts
13 reels