A table-book is a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

or printed book which is arranged so that all the parts of a piece of music can be read from it while seated around a table. They were made in the 16th and 17th century for both instrumental and vocal pieces. They are an extension of the idea of Choir books, in which all parts are displayed on one page, in contrast with

partbook A partbook is a format for printing or copying music in which each book contains the part for a single voice or instrument, especially popular during the Renaissance and Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, p ...

s, which have a different book for each part (one book for all the soprano parts, another for all the altos, etc.) and each performer has their own book. The first example of such a book is probably ''Le parangon des chansons'' (1538) by

Jacques Moderne Jacques Moderne - Giacomo Moderno (Pinguente, Istria ow Buzet, Croatia">Buzet">ow_Buzet<_a>,_Croatia.html" ;"title="Buzet.html" ;"title="ow Buzet">ow Buzet, Croatia">Buzet.html" ;"title="ow Buzet">ow Buzet, Croatia c.1495–1500 – L ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. There are far more English than Continental examples of this type of book. English sources contain many lute pieces and works by

John Dowland John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe" ...

, including his ''

Lachrimae "Flow, my tears" (originally en-emodeng, Flow my teares fall from your springs, italic=no) is a lute song (specifically, an " ayre") by the accomplished lutenist and composer John Dowland (1563–1626). Originally composed as an instrumental und ...

''. The books began displaying duets, and later quartets. Later systems of displaying parts worked for up to six performers, and in extreme cases as many as 12. The publisher Peter Short published 30

lute song The term lute song is given to a music style from the late 16th century to early 17th century, late Renaissance to early Baroque, that was predominantly in England and France. Lute songs were generally in strophic form or verse repeating with a ...

books in the table-book format, many of them containing Dowland's music, beginning in 1597.Drexel.edu
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References

*John Morehen and Richard Rastall. "Table-book", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and the ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed March 2, 2007)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).

Notes

Manuscripts Books by type {{library-stub