Drexel 4257

Drexel 4257, also known by an inscription on its first page, "John Gamble, his booke, amen 1659" is a music manuscript commonplace book. It is the largest collection of English songs from the first half to the middle of the 17th century, and is an important source for studying vocal music in its transition from Renaissance music to Baroque music in England. Many songs also provide commentary on contemporary political events leading up to the Restoration.

Belonging to the New York Public Library, it forms part of the Music Division's Drexel Collection, located at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Following traditional library practice, its name is derived from its call number.

The compilation of the text may have started as early as the turn of the 17th century, but the manuscript had been completed in 1659 or 1660. Some of the songs in the manuscript contain references to the then-new king Charles II of England, who assumed the throne in 1660. The watermark of the manuscript is a fleur-de-lis. The same watermark was used in at least two other English books of the 1650s, suggesting a common origin.

John Gamble is thought to have acquired an unfinished version of the manuscript in 1642 or 1643, when the musicians of the Royal Chapel were dispersed as a result of the English Civil War. He apparently made his own handwritten additions over the following years, and likely kept the manuscript in his book collection until his death in 1687. The manuscript was forgotten until 1846, when it resurfaced as part of the collection of the musicologist Edward Francis Rimbault.