We often read exciting news of lost or previously unknown original
manuscripts of scores by famous composers (Bach and, I believe, Beethoven,
come to mind) suddenly being discovered in the Library of Congress or the
libraries of Ivy league type universities.  Sometimes it's not musical
memorabilia, but some famous poet's sonnet.

How do these relics find their way across the ocean into our libraries and
why does nobody know about them until their unexpected discovery? And how
do the discovering scholars know enough to be looking for them in the right
places?

Walter Meyer