Library curator opened a 248-year-old notebook and froze upon seeing the handwriting. It was Mozart's

Francois-Pierre Goy, who works as a curator at France’s National Library (BnF) Music Department, made a "major discovery" in February 2026. He came across a 44-page notebook that once belonged to the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he was 22 years old. The notebook is now 248 years old, and as per its contents, Classic FM (@classicfm) reported it was used by Mozart during his time in Paris. The post has received 15,600 likes and 175 comments.

Tutored the Duchesse de Guînes

Mozart's notebook was used as a diary entry for his pupil's daily music exercise. According to BnF, in 1778, Mozart was tutoring Marie-Louise-Phillipine de Bonnieres de Guines, the daughter of the Duke of Guines, a renowned flute player during his time. He commissioned Mozart's "Concerto for Flute and Harp." The Duchesse was learning how to play the harp. Aside from the prescribed exercises, it also had seven pieces for the flute and the harp, which experts believed were for the Duchess and the Duke to perform together. 

Distinct treble clefs

Goy revealed he had dedicated himself to sorting out archived documents before retiring. Before his discovery, he had been going through previous documents written by Mozart. That was how he noticed the similarities in handwriting. One indication was the way the treble clefs were written. He told the outlet, "The treble clefs are quite rounded and tilted slightly forward." He then compared the notebook to other handwritten texts by Mozart and was convinced it belonged to the late composer. By April 2026, the notebook was authenticated by Armin Brinzing, the director of the Mozarteum Foundation in Austria.

Mozart improves IQ

While music is relaxing and soothing to the mind, a study done by researchers at the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at UC Irvine revealed that listening to Mozart's sonatas can have a positive effect on a person's IQ. However, the effect is short-lived because the IQ boost fizzles out after 15 minutes. Nicholas Christenfeld, a social psychologist at UC San Diego, said, "The finding is surprising. The whole point of an IQ is that it is supposed to be unchanging from conception to death." 

Gordon Shaw, a physics professor at UC Irvine, explained, "The music is priming these other regions of the brain that may be involved with other tasks. It is not that Mozart will make you permanently smarter; it may be a warm-up exercise for parts of the brain."

Mozart's notebook was left behind

The BnF also shared how the notebook ended up in their archives. In a statement, it said that the manuscript "is part of two bundles of music that were confiscated from the home of the Duke of Guines in 1794." The Duke was a close friend of Marie-Antoinette. When the French Revolution began, he fled to England and must have left the notebook behind. The outlet also reported that Mozart's and the Duke's relationship became strained after the latter refused to give him his full pay. Mozart was given only half of what he was owed, and reportedly refused to take the payment. 

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