Lost in Translation?

[Magister Tekton]

I've been studying William Mitchell's 1949 translation of CPE Bach's Essay on Keyboard Instruments and referencing a German 1906 Leipzig edition edited by Walter Niemann. Interestingly, the Niemann edition deleted the Bach fingerings.

Were Bach's fingerings ubiquitous in Wilhelmine Germany, or considered outdated?
I'm assuming the Mitchell edition fingerings are authentic.

I'm studying figured-bass referencing Rameau's Treatise in French and a 1779 English translation and reading CPE Bach for comparison since figured-bass uses many more chords that just those commonly used to define modern inversions. Intriguingly, Rameau uses the French Violin and F-bass clefs. Niemann uses a unique C-soprano and the familiar F-bass clef, while the 1779 Rameau translation and Mitchel uses the modern G-treble and F-bass clef notation.

https://x.com/MagisterTekton/status/202 ... A-pdg&s=19

I like Niemann's publisher's C-clef, elegant and easy to hand-write as calligraphy. Niemann refers to it as Descant clef.

[Harpsichordmaker]

You probably will find all informations here:
https://finger.braybaroque.ie/

“Baroque Keyboard Fingering” by Claudio Di Veroli is by far the most comprehensive book on fingering.
CPE Bach is post-baroque but I seem to remember the book e tend past the proper baroque. JS Bach’s sons fingering are surely treated because some scores by JSB are extant with fingerings by his sons.
The book is obviously aimed to harpsichordists, but it’s of historical interest too, as every statement is based on treatises or original fingered scores. If something isn’t in the book, the author is a nice guy and will gladly respond to any question.

[John Ruggero]

The Mitchell is highly authentic and an admirable edition.

The importance of the Essay was not completely recognized at the time of the Niemann edition and it was issued in abridged form. Many of the fingering sections were omitted since they were considered less essential. The original German editions are available at IMSLP.