This far-reaching and absorbing book is designed to help identify and value woodwind instruments made in Europe and the United States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Drawing upon the author's many years of research in the field, the book includes a brief history of European woodwind instruments made during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; biographies of important makers; a glossary of terms that will be a welcome help for the novice; a list of key systems; resources for obtaining further information from books, museums, societies, and online; and most importantly, information and nearly 300 images taken from over 20 trade catalogs printed between 1880 and 1930 in Europe and the United States. Featured among these is a complete translation of William Heckel's rare, circa 1930 catalog. This comprehensive volume is an outstanding resource for beginning and advanced collectors of musical instruments as well as for museum curators.