Edward Elgar's surviving manuscripts, whether full scores, musical sketches, letters or notebooks, are important sources for our knowledge of his working methods and his complex character. Here Robert Anderson examines the manuscript evidence, from some of Elgar's earliest exercises to the supreme achievements of the Enigma Variations and Cello Concerto, and discusses the insights it provides into the development of the composer's works, his ideas, influences and ambitions. The book is illustrated throughout from manuscripts in the collections of the Elgar Birthplace Trust and The British Library, reproduced in duotone.