The history, development, use and fall from favour of many types of mechanical instruments, from pocket-sized musical boxes to roll-playing pipe organs and everything else in between.

At one time, many wealthier families would have possessed their own automatic music machines in the form of a player piano, a Polyphon or cylinder musical box, and many carefully-treated examples are still in working order today.

This book describes pianolas, organettes, roller organs, orchestrions, nickelodeons, carillons and many more items, and introduces a complex subject in such a way as to encourage collectors both familiar and new.