Early Wheatstone Double System Duet Concertina

Resources in the Concertina Library for early Wheatstone "Double" system Duet concertina.

Instructions for the Double Concertina
by Joseph Warren (C. Wheatstone & Co.): A complete tutor for the Double duet, with an introduction devoted to the theory of the keyboard arrangement and the leveraging of patterns among key signatures. Published by Wheatstone & Co., deposited at the British Museum 28 July 1855. 27 pages. Printed in large format, trim size 9.5 inches by 14 inches.; Posted 15 February 2003; » read full document in pdf

Wheatstone Double Duet Pricelist circa 1850
contributed by Stuart Eydmann: Wheatstone & Co. list of models and prices for Double duet concertinas. Dated c. 1850 by by comparing sales prices to those in the Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers.; Posted 15 June 2005; » read full document in pdf

Photographs and Description of Wheatstone Double duet concertina, serial No. 23
by Robert Gaskins: Photographic documentation of very early Double duet (1847-1848). This No. 23 has only 45 keys, smaller than the 57-key size which is shown in the tutor or the 67-key size exemplified by Danny Chapman's No. 14. It contains an original additional baffle to reduce the volume of the bass side. 34 photographs.; Posted 15 February 2003; » read full article

Photographs of Wheatstone Double Concertina No. 14
by Danny Chapman: A very early duet (1845-1846), in the largest size known for a Wheatstone Double duet.; Posted 15 February 2003; » go to website

Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers on the Web
by the Horniman Museum: Historical business records from C. Wheatstone & Co. are held at the Library of the Horniman Museum in London. The earliest ledgers from the Wayne Archives contain company sales records from the late 1830s to the 1860s (though with some large gaps) along with production records from the 1860s to the 1890s and some early records of wages and other payments. Later ledgers from the Dickinson Archives contain production records from 1910 to 1974, again with some gaps. All known ledgers have been digitized (some 2,300 pages in total) and made available free on this website for private research.; Search Wheatstone Concertina Ledgers powered by Microsoft; Posted 15 April 2003; Updated 15 June 2005; » go to website

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Early Wheatstone “Double”,
inner surface of left reed pan,
spruce baffle on left side only