‘Reviv'd by the Publisher of the Former Masks’: The Firm of John Walsh and the Monthly Mask 1717–27 and 1737–8

Abstract

The 360 songs of the 103 surviving issues of John Walsh's Monthly Mask of Vocal Music 1702–1711 were published in a facsimile edition in 2007 with a commentary and indexes by the authors of this article. Walsh revived his periodical from July 1717 to March 1723 and during the following few years he occasionally employed Monthly Mask title-pages for sets of Italian opera songs. John Walsh the younger revived the periodical between May 1737 and January 1738. This article discusses the publishing history of the post-1711 runs, throwing interesting light on competition between music publishers and on the firm's relationship with Handel, and provides a catalogue giving transcriptions of first lines and titles, with additional information on composers, authors and performers, as well as full indexes.