Albi Rosenthal is widely known in international music circles, as an expert on the authenticity of manuscripts and all things musical, and as a collector and dealer. This volume of his work was originally conceived as a small selection in celebration of his 85th birthday. It rapidly expanded to its present size as the range and depth of his scholarship, and the fascination of his material, became apparent. The more comprehensive collection is presented here in the belief that it will now also be of interest to a much wider audience.

Obiter Scripta spans the author's output of over sixty years, touching on many subjects on which he is an expert. There are specific studies on Mozart—the field in which he is pre-eminent —and on Monteverdi, Paganini, Haydn, Liszt, and Kodaly. He also writes on music collecting and bibliography, fakes and frauds, discoveries, the perils of auctions, the earliest depiction of a musical instrument in a printed book, and anecdotes and coincidences. There is a section of tributes, and a number of articles arising from his lifelong interest in Nietzsche. Finally there are some interviews in which, among other things, Albi talks about himself, his family, and his life in Oxford. He is a Trustee of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, Switzerland and describes how many of the Foundation's major acquisitions were secured. He is also a Trustee of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany and of the Nietzsche-Haus in Sils-Maria, Switzerland, a member of the Council of Friends of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and a former President of the Oxford University Orchestra.

Forced by the political situation to leave Germany, Albi Rosenthal had to abandon his hopes of an academic career. He came to England at the age of 18 and studied at the Warburg Institute, and soon afterwards established A. Rosenthal Ltd in London, later moving it to Oxford. He acquired the firm of Otto Haas in 1955. He has combined a lifetime of study and business, and in the course of so doing has become a leading authority in the field of music manuscripts while simultaneously pursuing scholarly work, and travelling internationally wherever music manuscripts and books are bought or sold.