Chicago Sheet Music Collection, 1845-1871 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Collection Overview

Title: Chicago Sheet Music Collection, 1845-1871

ID: 01/01/MSS00115

Primary Creator: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Library

Extent: 6.0 Cubic Feet. More info below.

Arrangement:

Arrangement reflects original ordering by the University Library in 15 volumes, which is primary ordered chronologically by acquisition date, then alphabetically by composer last name and title of the composition within volumes.

Volume 1: alphabetically by composer last name then title.

Volumes 2-5: chronologically by publication date across volumes (v. 2 1849-1861, v. 3 1862-1865, v. 4 1865-1871, v. 5 1871- undated) then alphabetically by composer and title within each volume.

Volumes 6-7, 9-11 contain imprints ordered alphabetically by composer last name and title across volumes in the following order: v.6 (A-E), v. 7 (F-K), v. 11 (L-O), v. 9 (R-V), v. 10 (W).

Volume 8 and volumes 12-15 are ordered alphabetically by composer last name and title within each volume.

The physical collection has been rehoused into 20 boxes, ordered continuously by item based off of the original call and volume numbers. See the finding aid for a box/item listing.

Date Acquired: 08/01/1939

Subjects: H. M. Higgins (Publisher), Higgins Brothers (Chicago, Ill.), Lyon & Healy, Music publishing -- Illinois -- Chicago, Root & Cady, United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865

Forms of Material: Sheet Music

Languages: English, French, German, Italian

Abstract

A collection of 19th century sheet music printed in Chicago, Illinois before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Chicago Sheet Music Collection is a collection of 19th century sheet music printed in Chicago, Illinois before the Great Fire of 1871. It consists of a wide range of popular music from the time, including popular vocal and piano pieces, songs, ballads, waltzes, polkas, marches, comic pieces, opera selections, and parlor music. Thematic strengths include the American Civil War; stage shows and productions by comic actors, opera stars, minstrel performers, and family singing troupes; Chicago businesses and social organizations; and social issues such as temperance, reconstruction, and women's suffrage.

The items in the collection were predominantly published by the Chicago firms Root & Cady, H.M. Higgins, Lyon & Healy, and the DeMotte Brothers and their associated national imprints. Consisting of approximately 850 items, the collection was assembled by the University of Illinois Library between 1939-1943. Volumes 1-5, 8, 12, 14 and 15 contain music published and printed in Chicago, while volumes 6-7, 9-11, 13, and 15 contain imprints published in other American cities with Chicago distributors.

Collection Historical Note

In 1939, the University of Illinois began collecting sheet music printed in Chicago before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 in response to renewed interest in the academic community regarding Chicago’s role in music publishing during the Civil War and before the Fire. The Fire devastated the Chicago music industry, destroying the storefronts and inventories of most of the publishing houses. As a result, only one pre-Fire firm survived into the 20th century and information about the scale and national reach of the Chicago music publishing industry was largely forgotten. Between 1939 and 1943, the University Library amassed over 850 pieces of sheet music that either were printed in or would have been available in Chicago before 1871.

In 1941 the University Library hired a student assistant from the Library Science program to catalog and arrange the collection, Dena J. Polacheck Epstein (1916-2013). Epstein, who had a bachelor’s degree in music was inspired to write her master’s thesis, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: the Firm of Root & Cady, 1858-1871, using the Illinois collection, which was later serially published in the Music Library Association of America Notes journal between 1944-1946 and in a revised book edition in 1969, which has remained an influential work in the study of early American music publishing. Epstein later became a noted Music Librarian at the University of Chicago and an ethnomusicologist, best known for her foundational scholarship into early American Black folk music and her 1977 book Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War.

Sources:

Epstein, Dena. Interview by Chris D’Arpa. 14 March, 2008. Voices of Illinois Oral History Portal, University of Illinois Archives. https://www.library.illinois.edu/voices/collection-item/dena-epstein/, Accessed 28 February. 2023.

Epstein, Dena Julia Polacheck. “Music Publishing in Chicago Prior to 1871 : the Firm of Root & Cady, 1858-1871”. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1943.

Epstein, Dena J. Polacheck. Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871 : the Firm of Root & Cady, 1858-1871. Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1969.

Epstein, Dena J. "Music Publishing" in Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 2005

University of Illinois Library. Annual Report 1939-1940. University of Illinois Archives, 35/1/801.

Subject/Index Terms

H. M. Higgins (Publisher)
Higgins Brothers (Chicago, Ill.)
Lyon & Healy
Music publishing -- Illinois -- Chicago
Root & Cady
United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865

Administrative Information

Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Alternate Extent Statement: 20 boxes (853 items)

Access Restrictions: The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions:

The RBML reproductions policies can be found here:

http://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/collections/reproduction-services/

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would damage materials or involve violation of copyright law.

Acquisition Source: Purchased

Acquisition Method: Acquired between 1939-1943 through purchase installments from various rare book dealers including Edward H. Terry, L. E. Dicke, Fred Lockley, Wellman and Harry Dichter.

Related Publications: Epstein, Dena J. Polacheck. Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: the Firm of Root & Cady, 1858-1871. Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1969.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[Box 9],
[Box 10],
[Box 11],
[Box 12],
[Box 13],
[Box 14],
[Box 15],
[Box 16],
[Box 17],
[Box 18],
[Box 19],
[Box 20],
[All]

Box 10

Volume 8

Item 33: "Forward Boys! Forward!: song of the volunteers" (from Root and Cady's Collection of popular songs, duetts, trios, &c by Various Authors), comp. Geo. F. Root, lyrics by F.H.S., before 1871: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 34: "Lay me down and save the flag," comp. Geo. F. Root, lyrics by "Paulina", 1864: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 35: "Beautiful Lena: song & chorus," comp. and lyrics by Wm. Seibert, 1866: Piano, voice. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 36: "The fountain (la fontaine): etude capricio," comp. Herman Schirner, 1863: Piano. Published by H.M. Higgins.
Item 37: "Airs from Undine," comp. and arr. Franz Schlotter, 1868: Piano. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 38: "Oh, darling tell me yes: a beautiful ballad," comp. Mrs. C.L. Seaverns, lyrics by John G. Saxe, 1868: Piano, voice. Published by Molter & Wurlitzer.
Item 39: "Lottie in the lane" (from Six Songs by J.R. Thomas), comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by George Cooper, 1864: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 40: "Julie Polka," comp. C.G. Titcomb, 1866: Piano. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 41: "Welcome Song of the 40th Wisconsin Volunteers," comp. T. Martin Towne, lyrics by Liet. S. Filmore Bennett, 1864: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 42: "Don't be sorrowful, darling: song and chorus," comp. J.P. Webster, lyrics by Alice Cary, 1862: Piano, voice. Published by H.M. Higgins.
Item 43: "Lorena," comp. J.P. Webster, lyrics by Rev. H.D.L. Webster, 1857: Piano, voice. Published by H.M. Higgins.
Item 44: "Ocean Music: Quartette or song & chorus," comp. and lyrics by A.E. Wimmerstedt, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by H.M. Higgins.
Item 45: "Babylon is fallen!," comp. and lyrics by Henry C. Work, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 46: "The girls at home: Quartette" (from Work's Popular Songs & Ballads; no. 9), comp. and lyrics by Henry C. Work, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 47: "Kingdom Coming: Song and chorus" (from Work's Popular Songs & Ballads; no. 10), comp. and lyrics by Henry C. Work, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 48: "Now, Moses" (from Work's Popular Songs; no. 33), comp. and lyrics by Henry C. Work, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.
Item 49: "My beau that went to Canada," comp. G. Wurzel, lyrics by Eben E. Rexford, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Root & Cady.

Volume 9

Item 1: "The Golden Ring," comp. and lyrics by Geo. Linley, arr. Thos. Ryan, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 2: "Love's Request = Libe's bitte" (from The Germania: New vocal gems from the German), comp. and lyrics by A. Reichardt, trans. C. Clark, 1860: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 3: "Thou art so near and yet so far" (from Musical Photographs: A collection of the most popular and beautiful melodies of the day, arranged as teaching pieces by D. Angelo; no. 30), comp. Richard, arr. D. Angelo, 1864: Piano. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 4: "Mollie's Dream Waltz" (from Musical Photographs: A collection of the most popular and beautiful melodies of the day, arranged as teaching pieces by D. Angelo; no. 44), comp. Reisiger and D. Angelo, 1864: Piano. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 5: "The Fairies' Dance" (from Compositions & Transcriptions of Brinley Richards for the Piano Forte), comp. Brinley Richards, before 1871: Piano. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 6: "Warblings at eve: when softly falls the twilight shade," comp. Brinley Richards, arr. Adolph Baumbach, lyrics by Chas. J. Sprague, 1862: Piano, voice. Published by Henry Tolman & Co. (Boston).
Item 7: "Don't you see me coming: song of the Bob O' Line" (from Songs from Willow Farm; no. 4), comp. and lyrics by Geo. F. Root, 1859: Piano, voice. Published by Russell & Tolman (Boston).
Item 8: "Le Tremolo" (from Piano-forte folio: A choice selection of Brilliant and Instructive Compositions by Favorite Authors), comp. Henri Rossellen, 1866: Piano, voice. Published by William A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 9: "The Elfin Waltz" (from Beautiful Leaves: A collection of favorite rondos, marches, quicksteps, waltzes, polkas, etc.), comp. C.F. Rudolph, 1866: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 10: "Eva Galop," comp. Harry Sanderson, 1865: Piano. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 11: "McCook's Grand March," comp. P.J. Schneider, 1862: Piano. Published by S. Brainard & Co. (Cleveland).
Item 12: "Oh, why should the spirit of mortals be proud?," comp. A. Sedgwick, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 13: "Fairy whispers: nocturne for the pianoforte," comp. Sidney Smith, before 1871: Piano. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 14: "Grand Galop Brillant," comp. A.H. Sponholtz, before 1871: Piano (four hands). Published by Henry Tolman & Co. (Boston).
Item 15: "Fisher's hornpipe: with variations for the piano," comp. Louis Strack, 1850: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 16: "La Cavalcade: valse brillante," comp. Adrien Talexy, before 1871: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 17: "Imperatrice Charlotte: Polka Mazurka," comp. P. Arnold de Their, 1870: Piano. Published by C.H. Ditson & Co. (New York).
Item 18: "Beautiful Isle of the sea: song," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by George Cooper, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 19: "Beautiful Isle of the sea: song," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by George Cooper, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 20: "Cottage by the sea" (from Compositions & Transcriptions of Brinley Richards for the Piano Forte), comp. J.R. Thomas, transcr. Brinley Richards, 1859: Piano. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 21: "Down by the river side I stray: ballad," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by Geo. P. Morris, 1861: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 22: "Good night and happy dreams: song or duettino," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by Geo. Cooper, 1864: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 23: "In the glade: song," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by Mrs. Sarah E. Donmall, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 24: "Mother kissed me in my dream: ballad," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by George Cooper, 1864: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 25: "O! Sweet be thy repose: serenade," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by George Cooper, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 26: "Say a kind word when you can: song & chorus," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by Frederick Enoch, 1856: Piano, voice. Published by Firth, Pond & Co. (New York).