This issue sees the last Liturgical chant bibliography prepared by Dr Günther Michael Paucker. Having inherited this position from Peter Jeffery in 1996, he has produced, year after year, a total of twenty-one bibliographies, all with an admirably comprehensive coverage of studies on chant across the full range of languages. The journal could not have imagined a more meticulous, thorough and loyal editor. We remain truly thankful to him for all the Herculean efforts he has put into his Liturgical chant bibliographies from 1997 to 2017. They have been tremendously useful to chant scholars and will remain a lasting monument to his generosity of spirit.

The Liturgical chant bibliography 25 retains the traditional format: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Colections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to the bibliographies of previous years (mostly reviews) are listed directly after this introduction.

The Liturgical chant bibliography 24 retains the traditional format: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Colections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to the bibliographies of previous years (mostly reviews) are listed directly after this introduction. This year's bibliography opens with five Cantus planus databases and indexes, which were introduced in a detailed review published in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, 67 (2014), 267–85 (24001).

Liturgical chant bibliography 17 maintains the previously established subdivisions: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous bibliographies, mostly reviews, will be found immediately following this introduction.

Liturgical chant bibliography 16 maintains the previously established subdivisions: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous bibliographies, mostly reviews, will be found immediately following this introduction.

Liturgical chant bibliography 15 maintains the previously established subdivisions: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous bibliographies, for the most part reviews, precede the current bibliography.

liturgical chant bibliography 14 maintains the previously established subdivisions: (1) editions and facsimile editions, (2) books and reprints, (3) congress reports, (4) chant journals, (5) collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) articles in periodicals and festschriften. additions to previous bibliographies, for the most part reviews, directly follow this introduction.

Liturgical chant bibliography 13 maintains the division of material established in previous editions of the bibliography: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous bibliographies (mostly reviews) directly follow this introduction.

Liturgical chant bibliography 12 maintains the traditional division into: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous bibliographies, consisting mainly of reviews, follow the present introduction. A significant publication in 2002 was without doubt the colour facsimile of the manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fonds lat. 776 (12002), an eleventh-century gradual from the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Gaillac near Albi. Although no staff lines are present, the music is notated carefully in diastematic notation. The availability of a facsimile of this famous manuscript will certainly be of value for the study of semiology and the transmission history of tropes, proses and prosulae. It also contains traces of the Gallican and Mozarabic chant repertories.

Liturgical chant bibliography 11 maintains the system of classification established in previous years: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previously published Bibliographies (mostly reviews) will be found immediately following this introduction.

Liturgical chant bibliography 10 maintains the format established in the most recent editions of the bibliography: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous years' bibliographies (mainly reviews) will be found immediately following this introduction.

The structure of the present Liturgical chant bibliography 9 maintains the previously established format: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays, dictionaries and periodicals, (6) Articles in periodicals. All of the material contained in the bibliography may be accessed by means of the indices of names, subjects and manuscripts. This year, I would like to draw particular attention to several facsimile editions of chant manuscripts: Il Libro del Maestro, Piacenza 9 (9002), The York Processional (9003), the Breviarium notatum strigoniense (9005) and an Antiphonaire cistercien, XII s. (9007). The first mentioned of these facsimiles has been the centre of a number of related publications (9024, 9039, 9060, 9077f, 9138). The famous Ars nova manuscript from Cyprus (9008) has been published in facsimile. Previously, the small chant repertory it contains (fols 1-28) had been available in Richard H. Hoppin: Cypriot Plainchant of the Manuscript Torino Biblioteca Nazionale J. II. 9. A Facsimile Edition with Commentary, Musicological Studies and Documents 19 (American Institute of Musicology, 1968).

Liturgical chant bibliography 7 continues the new format initiated last year in this journal: editions and facsimile editions; books, reprints; collections of essays, congress reports, chant periodicals, dictionaries; articles in periodicals and Festschriften. This year's bibliography begins with a list of additions to the previous bibliography. In the case of a few titles, the Lexicon Musicum Latinum (7053) or MGG (7059), for example, I have referred to publications listed in LitChBibl 6. Completing and facilitating access to the bibliography are separate indices of names, subjects and manuscripts

From 1992 to 1996 the Liturgical chant bibliography was compiled by Peter Jeffery. His new duties as professor of music at Princeton University will prevent him from continuing his valuable annual listing of chant scholarship. The new author of the bibliography and the editors of Plainsong & Medieval Music would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his unique contribution to this journal over the past four years.