A valuable source of information about many minor composers of the 19th century not found in other reference works, including the first edition of Grove. Baptie has ben called "a predecessor of Grove" for his efforts to record biographical details of local composers and performers celebrated in his day. His Handbookprovides information on many minor figures not found in other reference books -including the first edition of Grove's Dictionary, whose initial appearance in 1878 further stimulated Baptie to produce his own biographical collection. The text has been enlarged by six per cent for ease in reading.