HAMILTON (James Alexander): — Hamilton's Practical Catechism on Singing; extracted from the best authorities, Italian, French & English, illustrated with numerous examples; and respectfully dedicated to Charles, Bishop, Esquire, by the Author Price Three Shillings.

London: Printed and Sold by R. Cocks and Co..., 1834. Small 12mo (in 6s), 140 x 92 mms., pp. [vi], 76, 32 engraved music, 24 [25 - 28 adverts], original cloth, paper label on front cover; lower margins of adverts leaves closely trimmed, but a very good copy, with the near contemporary autograph \"V. A. Browne\" on the recto of the front free end-paper The music theorist and compiler of \"how to\" books on music, James Alexander Hamilton (1785–1845) was brought up in a disreputable household - his father was a bookseller - but overcame this enormous handicap to teach himself music theory and several languages; probably his best-known work is Hamilton's Modern Instructions for the Piano Forte, ODNB gives 1853 as the earliest edition, but clearly this one precedes it. Given the huge misfortune of his paternity, it is no surprise to read in ODNB that \"Edward Heron-Allen describes how 'he sold to the publishers, for a few pounds, the copyrights of a large quantity of musical works, which … might have kept him in affluence' (De fidiculis bibliographia, 1.143–4). Consequently he lived in difficulties and died in London on 2 August 1845, in extreme poverty.\" A review of the work appeared in The Musical Review for 1839, for an edition published in New York: \"The first 76 pages (18mo size) of this work contain some excellent remarks on singing in general, the cultivation of the voice, style, &c. About the same number of pages are appended containing lessons in vocalization, and singing in parts.-- These are good so far as they go: yet like most English works, they are thrown in without systematic arrangement: and as a method they are very incomplete. The book, however, will be a useful auxiliary in teaching singing.\" OCLC locates one copy of this edition, at York University, Canada, Other editions are found in Yale, Buffalo Public, andNewberry, and Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales; Yale also lists a digital copy. Library Hub locates an 1841 copy in UCL and another in the Royal College of Music in London