An introduction to singing: after so easy a method that persons of the meanest capacities may (in a short time) learn to sing (in tune) any song that is set to musick

In the 18th and early 19th centuries London was one of the world's largest printing and book publishing centres. London's booksellers clustered around St Paul's Churchyard and along Fleet Street.

As Londoners' wealth and leisure time increased, and opportunities for education grew, so too did their appetite for books, newspapers and magazines.

Peter Prelleur, a Huguenot, was a writing master and composer. He became the organist at Christchurch, Spitalfields. This work was published to help amateurs with their singing and reflects the growth of informal music making in London.