For anyone who has the opportunity to visit the Marino Marini
Mechanical Music Museum in Ravenna, Italy, I guarantee that you have
a pleasant surprise in store.  This formerly private collection was
donated to the city some years ago.

I visited the place many years ago and at that time it was really
impressive, with over 300 examples on view.  Mr. Marini, now deceased,
spent a lifetime collecting, restoring, and maintaining almost every
conceivable type of mechanical musical instrument which he housed in
a large building.  I don't know if the museum conducts tours for
individuals, but apparently groups are welcome if a reservation is made
ahead of time.

I found a web site at http://www.ammi-italia.com/page9/page32/page32.html 
but it is in Italian.  A poor English translation is available if you
Google on <Marino Marini Museum>.

John Crandall

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 [ -- Robbie