Returning to Wilgus for a moment. I don't find him a useful alternative to Harker. Harker's main focus is on English and Scottish collectors, editors and theorists and their historical contexts. Wilgus is mostly US focused, with a strong focus on theoretical disputes. He seems to have come at the subject via an Eng Lit 'new criticism' approach.

Earlier in the thread I commented on Wilgus's view of Sharp. I was told I was wrong, so I double checked and I was right. Wilgus doesn't think much of Sharp's theorising and he does regard it as derivative. He has more time for Sharp's descriptive work on melodies, but even then he says it wasn't in any sense complete, more that it provided a basis for future students. He repeatedly mentions the 'racial' nature of Sharp's theorising, and his Darwinism. His last sentence leaves us with the idea that Sharp failed where US theorists succeeded.

More detail anon.