A Gift of Sound: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments

Published to celebrate the reopening of The Met's André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments after a two-year renovation, this Bulletin tells the story of Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown, whose unparalleled collection formed the foundation of the Department of Musical Instruments at The Met. Sally B. Brown, Mary Elizabeth’s great-granddaughter, explores how a mother of six without any musical training acquired over 3,600 musical instruments from around the world in the late nineteenth century. Mary Elizabeth also became an esteemed authority in the field, authoring the first catalogue of a musical instruments collection in the United States. This publication features works of art from her collection, roughly two-thirds of which are from non-European cultures, that attest to her groundbreaking deviation from the Western canon and exceptional ambition as a collector.