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The Ricasoli Collection of music manuscripts and editions, currently housed in the Dwight Anderson Music Library of the University of Louisville, represents the second largest collection of Tuscan music (after the Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini in Florence), and the largest collection of Tuscan sacred music and concertos in the world. The collection first came to the attention of Dr. Robert L. Weaver, a professor of music history at the University of Louisville, who noticed that the Caldini Internazionale sales catalog in Florence had begun to feature Tuscan pieces of some interest. In 1984, then, with support from the School of Music at the University of Louisville, some seventy items were initially purchased. At this time it was noted by Marion Korda, the head librarian of the Anderson Music Library, that the numbering of the pieces seemed to indicate they were from a larger collection. A search was begun by Dr. Weaver that resulted in the identification of the music as having originated with the Ricasoli family in Florence. Subsequently, the balance of the collection was purchased in 1987 with money raised from local anonymous donors in Louisville, but only after some items had already been individually sold to collectors. Additional money was then raised to attempt to track down and purchase the missing pieces, but this met with only partial success, leaving some items still outside the collection housed in Louisville.
The remainder of the money donated for purchasing the missing items in the Ricasoli Collection was then redirected toward the purchase of manuscripts and editions that would complement the Ricasoli Collection. These purchases were subsequently cataloged as addenda to the collection (Add. 1, Add. 2, etc.). The items sought for the addenda included, in order of preference: Tuscan music from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century; Italian music from the same period; and, finally, editions and manuscripts from the period that originated outside Italy. This final category could include music that was connected to persons or organizations in Tuscany, or pieces similar to those in the Ricasoli Collection. Some years later it was decided to produce a formal catalog of the Ricasoli Collection to include the addenda. This resulted in grants from the Speed family in Louisville to pay for the author...