To those who are conversant with the German, Italian, and French languages, the publication of the present work may appear to a certain extent uncalled for; but to such musical amateurs and professors as have not this advantage, the compilers trust that their Dictionary will prove both useful and interesting. The “Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens” of Mr. Fayolle appeared in the year 1811. It is, in many respects, very ably edited, and was decidedly a great improvement on the first edition of Gerber's “Historisch-Biograjjhisvhes Lexicon der Tonkunstler,” which was published at Leipsic in 1791, in two volumes octavo ; still, it is to be remarked of Mr. Fayolle's work, as it concerns English readers, that hardly any mention is made of the most celebrated artists of this country; indeed, the claims of England to the slightest consideration in the annals of music, appear to have been overlooked both by Mr. Fayolle, and by Mr. Choron in his Summary of the Art. This deficiency may, in a great degree, be accounted for by the political division of the two countries, for many years preceding the publication of the Dictionnaire Historique; still the fact remains the same. In the year 1813, Mr. Gerber published a second edition of his Lexicon der Tonk7uuml;nstler, in four volumes octavo; and this is certainly a work of high interest so far as respects the artists of Germany, but with regard to England it is again a blank; hardly a single article relating to British musicians having received even a verbal alteration from his first edition, though the second is swelled to more than double the length, by added details respecting the artists of other countries.