Ah, this is fascinating, thanks for sharing! And I see that you've discussed in detail why my comment on your previous post, written (obviously) before reading this, maybe doesn't hold in terms of her having been writing this over years. I sort of imagine, to reconcile both the "without one correction, sheet after sheet, flung from her hand" and her starting at 16, that either she wrote a rough draft at 16 or had ideas/sketches at 16, but wrote the final draft without correction much later. Though of course one of those could be incorrect or mistaken...

Benjamin Disraeli, who forwarded it to his publisher and wrote to Sheppard: 'No greater book will ever be written upon music, and it will one day be recognised as the imaginative classic of that divine art'

Awwww that's really cool!

(Also, tangentially, every time I read "John" in conjunction with "Sheppard" I blink a little because it sets off Stargate Atlantis vibes in my brain, but that's a me problem :) )