William Coxe (1748-1828) was the stepson of Handel's amanuensis, John Christopher Smith. As such, he was ideally placed to write a biography of Smith, and also of Handel. These Anecdotes are therefore important sources for the lives of both composers. It is notable that many of the subscribers were close friends of Smith. The style of the original 1799 text is refreshingly simple and unaffected, and little change has been necessary to make it accessible to the modern reader. An introduction, notes and index have been added. William Coxe was a talented writer and historian whose output include...

By the 1970s, Robt. Jowitt & Sons was believed to be the oldest surviving wool company in Britain. From a small family concern it grew into a large international business before suffering from the general decline in domestic demand and increase in overseas competition which afflicted all British wool businesses. This book tells the story of the company and the family behind it. In the seventeenth century, the Jowitts were persecuted for being Quakers. By hard work and moderate habits, they escaped poverty to become leading opinion-formers and benefactors in nineteenth-century Leeds. They...