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: ordered alphabetically by composer last name then title.

Volumes 2-5: ordered chronologically by publication date across volumes (v. 2 1849-1861, v. 3 1862-1865, v. 4 1865-1871, v. 5 1871- no date) 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 finding aid for item list.

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

A collection of 19th century sheet music printed in Chicago, Illinois before the Great Chicago 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 parlour music. Thematic strengths include music relating to the Civil War, songs associated with specific performances in stage shows by comic actors, musical theatre and opera stars, and by traveling family singing troupes and minstrel shows. Thre is also music related to local Chicago businesses and social organizations as well as social issues such as temperance, abolition, 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

The University of Illinois Library developed this collection of Sheet Music between 1939 and 1943 in response to a renewed interest in academic community regarding Chicago’s role in music publishing during the Civil War and before the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. In the early 20th century, little was known about the national reach and prominence of the early Chicago music industry, which had been completely devastated by the 1871 fire. The University Library sought to purchase sheet music printed in Chicago prior to 1871 as well as sheet music printed in other US cities, such as New York and Boston, that listed pre-fire Chicago publishers as secondary imprints. The bulk of the collection was purchased from various rare booksellers over the 1939-1940 academic year, although additions continued until 1943. The collection began as a general collection in the University Library, however was transferred to the Rare Book & Manuscript Library during the mid-20th century. In January 1941, the library brought in then library student assistant Dena Julia Polacheck Epstein (1916-2013) to catalog and organize recent additions to the collection. Epstein was in the process of completing her B.S. and M.A. in library science and held a B.A. in music from the University of Chicago. Epstein 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 influential in the study of early American music publishing and Chicago publishers. Dena Epstein later became a noted Music Librarian at the University of Chicago and 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 Materials: For more information please see https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/rbmlsfa/MSS00115_Chicago_Sheet_Music_Collection.pdf.

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

PDF Box/Folder List

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/rbmlsfa/MSS00115_Chicago_Sheet_Music_Collection.pdf

PDF finding aid for Chicago Sheet Music Collection (01/01/MSS00115)

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