Playford, Henry (EN)

Playford Henry, *5 May 1657 Islington, †1709 London, English publisher and music bookseller, son of John. Initially, he operated in partnership with R. Carr; he published primarily reissues of his father’s publications, often expanded and supplemented, e.g. Introduction to the Skill of Musick (new edition in cooperation with H. Purcell, 1694, reissued until 1730). H. Purcell’s widow entrusted Playford with editing the collected songs of the composer Orpheus Britannicus (vol. 1 1698, vol. 2 1700). In 1699, Playford began publishing cheap editions of popular songs Wit and Mirth or Pilis to Purge Melancholy, and in 1699–1702, he published the magazine Mercurius Musicus. However, the publishing house inherited from his father gradually lost its high and privileged position among English music publishers; due to rather conservative printing and distribution methods, it could not withstand the competition with newer music publications that used the copperplate engraving technique on a larger scale (including J. Walsh) and lost its importance in the first decade of the 18^th century.