1879-1890—London, England

Sir George Grove publishes the first edition of his influential Dictionary of Music and Musicians. The trombone article, written by William Stone, includes a position chart for alto trombone, tenor trombone, bass trombone in G, and bass trombone in F. Stone mentions that the alto trombone is pitched in F or E-flat, and the alto positions shown in the position chart are clearly for an instrument in E-flat (see below image; public domain) (Grove 1st ed. 177).