Having a few hours spare one afternoon, my fiancée and I decided to visit the Cobbe Collection of keyboard instruments at Hatchlands Park, near Guildford in Surrey. Visiting the collection has been on my to-do list for as long as I can remember. It comprises the largest collection of its type, with 42 keyboard instruments from the 17th century to the present. As well as historical instruments, such as Charles II’s virginals from the Palace of Whitehall (a remarkable survival: nearly all its contents were destroyed by fire in 1698), the collection includes many instruments that belonged to famous composers. We saw pianos owned by Mahler, Elgar, Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven and Mozart. There is a fortepiano owned by JC Bach, known as the English Bach. The greatest historical curiosity, though, is the Erard piano said to have been made for Marie Antoinette. This, even more than Charles II’s virginals, is a wondrous survival – if it is authentic. There, for me, is physical history’s most enticing aspect: this object is imbued with an aura depending on a supposition, perhaps supported by documentation, perhaps only by anecdote. The historian’s task is to examine as deeply as possible the truth behind the supposition and be unafraid to puncture the bubble of mythology surrounding people and objects. After all, it is still an excellent example of an early piano, regardless of whether it was touched by those delicate Austrian fingers.