Soprano cornet, E-flat
Maker
Boosey & Company
Date1896
Place MadeLondon, England, Europe
ModelA 14
Serial No.41266
SignedStamped on bell: CLASS. A / TRADE MARK (in trumpet) / BOOSEY / PATENT / COMPENSATING PISTONS / BOOSEY & CO / MAKERS / 295 REGENT STT / LONDON / 48059MarkingsStamped on second valve casing: P / C G / S [thirteen circles in diamond] / TRADE MARK / PATENT / 41266 (opposite side from trade mark)
Stamped on valve casings, caps and spring stems, respectively: 7, 8, 9
Stamped on third-valve water key: 3
Stamped on receiver ferrule: BA
Amateurishly engraved on bell close to rim: 7307 (former inventory number?)
DescriptionBrass, silver-plated finger buttons and bow guard, single loop, main tuning slide at longer connecting tube between third and first valve, removable leadpipe (E-flat shank, replaced), three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring outside stem, alignment by one key on nickel-plated pistons, single water key at first bow, windway 1-3-2-1 (default) or 1-2-3-1 (first valve engaged), first valve master (no valve loops), second and third valve with a shorter and a longer loop each.
This cornet provides eight different paths, giving perfectly correct tube lengths for all valve combinations. The leadpipe enters the first or master valve and passes through the shorter of two connecting tubes on the bell side into the third valve, and back into the first valve via the second valve.
In detail the airstream is as follows:
Second valve actuated: Shorter bell-side connecting tube and shorter second-valve loop on leadpipe side; windway takes same route as in open instrument
Third valve actuated: Shorter bell-side connecting tube and shorter third valve loop; windway same route as above
Second and third valves combined: Shorter bell-side connecting tube and shorter second and third valve loops; windway same route as above
First valve actuated: Windway passes from first to second to third valve and via longer connecting tube (with slide) on leadpipe-side back into first valve
First and second valves actuated: Windway passes from first to longer second-valve loop (no slide) on bell-side to third valve and back to first valve via longer leadpipe-side connecting tube
First and third valve actuated: Windway passes into longer bell-side third-valve loop and longer leadpipe-side connecting tube
All valves actuated: Additionally the longer bell-side second valve loop is engaged; same windway as above
The compensating system follows in principle U.S. patent No. 886,783, granted on May 5, 1908, to Thomas C. Edwards, assignor to Besson & Co. The only difference is that the first valve is the master here, while in the Besson patent it is the third valve.
According to the Boosey instrument books at the Horniman Museum in London, this E-flat soprano cornet, model A 14, with bell no. 48059 was made by Last, given out February 19, 1896, received March 20, 1896, went to the polisher on April 6, 1896, and was charged to Regent Street on April 23, 1896. It was part of a batch of 6 instruments that were charged to Regent Street for £3/4/11. According to the piston books, this bell should be together with valve cluster no. 41265 (rather than 41266) that was given out February 7, 1896, and was received February 21, 1896, and made by Holmes. The misnumbering is likely a result of an assembly mistake or a mistake in the records.
DimensionsHeight: 286 mm
Tube length: 933 mm, 989 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 12.1 mm, 9.3 mm, 11.6 mm, 11.6 mm
Bore diameter (shank, initial, minimum): 9.8 mm, 8.9 mm
Bell diameter: 119 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey, 1990.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heydey of the Cornet (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022), pp. 212, 294.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07014
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