Three of the instruments listed are ottavinas, small instruments tuned an octave higher than usual. Ottavinas correspond to a four-foot register. Mersenne[8] mentions that they existed in two sizes, one a fifth above the usual pitch and the other an octave above. The three ottavinas included in the table are considered to be of the size sounding an octave above the usual pitch because they have C/E to c´´´ ranges and pitch C string lengths about half the average length of the other instruments in the nontransposing group. Although no examples were found for inclusion in this study, it is probable that some ottavinas a fifth above the usual pitch—and therefore an octave higher than the transposing instruments in our listing—survive. Such instruments would be expected to have apparent ranges of C/E to f´´´ and pitch C strings between 5-3⁄4" and 6-3⁄4" in length.
DATA ON THE 33 INSTRUMENTS STUDIED
| Date | Pitch C length (in inches) | Apparent compass | Type | Registers | Maker | Present Location |
| Transposing Instruments | ||||||
| 1540 | 11-11⁄16 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Vi ... ies | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1569 | 13-1⁄4 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Annibale Rossi | Juilliard School of Music |
| 1602 | 13-1⁄4 | C/E-f´´´ | Rectangular virginal | 8´ | Ioannes Baptista Bononien | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1610 | 13-1⁄2 | C/E-f´´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Pasquino Querci | Harding Museum, Chicago |
| 1613 | 11-1⁄2 | C/E-f´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Pasquino Querci | Smithsonian Insitution |
| 1617 | 13-3⁄4 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Giovanni Battista Boni | Yale University, New Haven, Conn. |
| 1620 | 13-9⁄16 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Francesco Poggio | Rhode Island School of Design, Providence |
| 11-15⁄16 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Skinner Collection, Holyoke, Mass. | |
| 12-15⁄16 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Smithsonian Institution | |
| 13" | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Boston Museum of Fine Arts | |
| 11-1⁄2 | C-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Folger Library, Washington, D.C. | |
| 12-3⁄4 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Cincinnati Art Museum | |
| 13-5⁄8 | C/E-f´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Smithsonian Institution | |
| Nontransposing Instruments | ||||||
| 1548 | 11 | C/E-c´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Domenicus Pesaurensis | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1554 | [[a]]10-1⁄2 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Padre Stoppacio | Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York |
| 1585 | []11-1⁄2 | C/E-a´´ | Ottavina | 4´ | Franciscus Bonafinis | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1602 | 10-1⁄2 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | ...... | Christoforus Rigunini | Stearns Collection, Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| 1615 | []9-3⁄4 | C/E-a´´ | Ottavina | 4´ | Pasquino Querci | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1625 | 10-1⁄8 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´ | Valerius Peres | Skinner Collection, Holyoke, Mass. |
| 1633 | 11-3⁄8 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Horatius Albana | Smithsonian Instituion |
| 1645 | 11 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Horatius Albana | Vizcaya, Miami, Fla. |
| 1654 | 10-1⁄4 | C/E-f´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Anonymous | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1658 | 11-1⁄8 | C-f´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Hieronymus de Zentis | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1665 | 10 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Giacomo Ridolfi | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1666 | 10-15⁄16 | A1-f´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Hieronymus de Zentis | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 1682 | 10-7⁄8 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Giacomo Ridolfi | Rhode Island School of Design, Providence |
| 1683 | 8 | C/E-c´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | B. Obici | Harding Museum, Chicago |
| 1690 | 10-13⁄16 | C/E-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´ | Giovanni Andrea Menegoni | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1693 | 10-5⁄16 | G1-c´´´ | Harpsichord | 8´8´ | Anonymous | Smithsonian Institution |
| 1694 | 9-7⁄8 | C-c´´´ (minus C#) | Harpsichord | 8´8´4´ | Nicolaus de Quoco | Smithsonian Institution |
| 9-3⁄4 | C/E-a´´ | Clavicytherium | 8´8´ | Anonymous | Smithsonian Institution | |
| []10-3⁄8 | C/E-c´´´ | Clavicytherium (Ottavina) | 4´ | Anonymous | Boston Museum of Fine Arts | |
| 11 | C/E-c´´´ | Polygonal virginal | 8´ | Anonymous | Smithsonian Institution | |
a This length is approximate. It is double the length of the shortest string on the instrument.
bIn order to arrive at a meaningful average value for the string lengths of the nontransposing group, it was necessary to double the measured lengths of the pitch C strings of the three instruments tuned an octave higher.
| Figure | Negative Number | Catalog Number |
| 1 | 56322 | 326,905 |
| 2 | 46792 | 303,544 |
| 3 | 49355A | 303,544 |
| 4 | 49355B | 303,544 |
| 5 | 49356A | 303,544 |
| 6 | 49356 | 303,544 |
| 7 | 49356D | 332,173 |
| 8 | 49356D | 332,173 |
| 9 | 49357A | 332,173 |
| 10 | 49357 | 332,173 |
| 11 | 49355C | 332,173 |
| 12 | 46795 | 303,545 |
GPO: 1970 O—380-228
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D.C. Price 25 cents.