In Paris we have the firm of LeRoy & Ballard, publishing from 1551 onwards guitar, lute, and cittern tablatures using a distinctive type cut by Granjon.
In London, a very similar type is seen in use in several editions, the earliest of which are (Brown sigla) - 1574.2 (printed by Kyngston), 1599.1 (printed by [H Ballard for] Barley). A curious coincidence in names gives one to speculate on how the type came to england. In spite of a plethora of geneological web sites for the surname Ballard I have not been able to find plausible biographical information for Richard B., and only an implausible one for Henry B. It is plausible that both of them are immigrants, perhaps hugenot refuges, I cannot tie them to Paris either. I have consulted Steele _Earliest English Music Printing_, Krummel _English Music Printing_, Heartz _Pierre Attaignant, Royal Printer of Music_, Krummel & Sadie, _Music Printing and Publishing_, as well as the articles in NGD. Henry Ballard [fl 1599-1609] was a printer and worked for Wm Barley on several editions. Richard Ballard [fl 1571-1585] was a bookseller at the north end of London Bridge (St Magnus Corner), he seems to have favored books on navigation and other works printed by John Allde and John Kyngston. Comments and suggestions are welcome, especially for geneological info on the Parisian Ballards. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
