Summary: When Renaissance music went to press, the composer of the publisher frequently added at least one paratext, which acted in the same way as blurbs do on the dust-jackets of today's books. These texts are treasure trove of information about Renaissance music and its contxt. They inform us about the lives of the composers, the publication and function of polyphonic music, and the music theory of the period. But they also read as a who's who of the courts of Europe and the higher echelons of the Church, and reveal networks netween composers, printer, patrons of music and celebrated authors such as Jean Doratr, Jacques Gohory and Paulus Melissus Schede. This book offers the first critical ediiton of more than 150 such liminary texts.