There are no known autograph copies of the treatise, but copies survive of the two versions published during Couperin's lifetime. The 1716 edition of the work included eight simple Preludes and an original
Allemande, technique exercises and instructions, fingering notes for passages in
Pièces de Clavecin, and an essay about ornamentation. The 1717 edition added a new preface and a supplement outlining fingering for the second book of
Pièces de Clavecin. ''L'art de toucher le clavecin'' was one of the last books to include
unmeasured preludes for harpsichord (though bar numbers were added for teaching purposes), along with
Nicolas Siret's second volume of harpsichord pieces (
Second livre de pièces de clavecin, published in 1719). ==References==