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 16

Volume 13

Item 43: "Everybody's Friend" (from Series of Comic Songs, Written, composed, and sung by William Lingard; no. 2), comp. and lyrics by William Lingard, 1868: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 44: "Fredonia March," comp. D.W. Lothrop, 1857: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 45: "'Good Night' March," comp. E. Mack, 1868: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 46: "Amid the silent hours of night," comp. Geo. W. Lyon, lyrics by Olynthus, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 46, cop. 2: "Amid the silent hours of night," comp. Geo. W. Lyon, lyrics by Olynthus, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 47: "Oh! I wish the war were over!," comp. Chas. Manvers, lyrics by John K. Holmes, 1862: Piano, voice. Published by S. Brainard & Co. (Cleveland).
Item 48: "Benedic anima mea: praise the lord" (from Matins & Even Song), comp. and lyrics by John B. Marsh, undated: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 49: "My darling is the gentlest thing" (from 3 Songs; no. 2), comp. G. Matzka, lyrics by E. Trevor, 1864: Piano, voice. Published by William Hall & Son (New York).
Item 50: "He's watching o'er thye mother: song & chorus," comp. Ferdinand Mayer, lyrics by M.A. Geuville, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by Henry Tolman & Co. (Boston).
Item 51: "Viva L'America: Home of the free," comp. and lyrics by H. Millard, 1859: Piano, voice. Published by Firth, Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 52: "The girl I left behind me: with variations," comp. W.B. Miller, 1864: Piano. Published by James S. Drake (Detroit).
Item 53: "Only you: serenade," comp. G. Müeller, lyrics by D.C. Addison, 1871: Piano, voice. Published by John Church & Co. (Cincinnati).
Item 54: "Geneviéve de barbant: Galop containing three airs" (from Genevieve de Brabant, Offenbach: Instrumental Selections by William Dressler), comp. J. Offenbach, arr. W. Dressler, 1868: Piano. Published by J.L. Peters (New York).
Item 55: "Geneviéve de barbant: Gendarme Galop" (from Genevieve de Brabant, Offenbach: Instrumental Selections by William Dressler), comp. J. Offenbach, arr. W. Dressler, 1869: Piano. Published by J.L. Peters (New York).
Item 56: "Geneviéve de barbant: Quadrilles containing 14 melodies" (from Genevieve de Brabant, Offenbach: Instrumental Selections by William Dressler), comp. J. Offenbach, arr. W. Dressler, 1868: Piano. Published by J.L. Peters (New York).
Item 57: "Que veut dire = ah what means: duetto soprano and tenor" (from La Grande Duchesse de J. Offenbach), comp. J. Offenbach, arr. W. Dressler, lyrics by J. Offenbach, trans. M. Barnett, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by J.L. Peters (New York).
Item 58: "Somebody's darling slumbers here," comp. John P. Ordway, lyrics by Maria Lacoste, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 59: "Still he kept thinking: ballad," comp. and lyrics by John P. Ordway, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 60: "Our Soldier's last march," comp. Mrs. E.A. Parkhurst, 1865: Piano. Published by Horace Waters (New York).
Item 61: "A Fairy Tale" (from Compositions for Piano by Gustav Lange; op. 69), comp. Gustav Lange, undated: Piano. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 62: "Cantate Domino," comp. and lyrics by James Ernest Perring, 1867: Organ, voice (quartet). Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 63: "I love thine eyes" (from A Choice Selection of Popular Songs and Ballads), comp. and lyrics by C. Pinsuti, trans. J.H. Hanson, 1869: Piano, voice. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 64: "The sea hath its pearls: for four voices," comp. C. Pinsuti, lyrics by Longfellow, undated: Piano, voice (quartet). Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 65: "Military Tattoo," comp. Arnaud Préot, 1859: Guitar. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 66: "I Naviganti = The Mariners: terzettino for Mezzo Soprano, Tenor, and Bass," comp. A. Randegger, lyrics by Giuseppe Randegger, undated: Piano, voice (trio). Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 67: "Creator Alme and Christ the Lord is Risen to Day: hymn for soprano," comp. P. Rondinella, 1870: Piano, voice. Published by F.A. North & Co. (Philadelphia).
Item 68: "Oh will my mother never come?: song and chorus," comp. Geo. F. Root, lyrics by M. Sullivan, 1864: Piano, voice. Published by Henry Tolman & Co. (Boston).
Item 69: "Coming home, or the cruel war is over: song & chorus," comp. and lyrics by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 70: "I'm such a winning man" (from Jeppe's Favorite Songs with the Peak Family Bell Ringers; no. 2), comp. and lyrics by Edgar H. Sherwood, 1870: Piano, voice. Published by Jos. P. Shaw (Rochester).
Item 71: "Premier Nocturne," comp. Silas G. Pratt, 1869: Piano. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 72: "Birds in the Night: a lullaby" (from Songs of Miss Annie Louise Gary), comp. Arthur S. Sullivan, lyrics by Lionel H. Lewin, undated: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 73: "Fishes in the sea: ballad," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by Geo. Cooper, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by William A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 74: "Queen of the night: serenade," comp. J.R. Thomas, lyrics by Geo. Cooper, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 75: "Consider the lilies" (from Beauties of song: a collection of the most popular and beautiful Songs and Ballads), comp. R. Topliff, undated: Piano, voice. Published by Wm. A. Pond & Co. (New York).
Item 76: "Ruth and Naomi" (from Sabbath Evenings. A collection of songs, duets, trios and quartets), comp. Topliff, 1854: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 77: "Weeping, sad and lonely, or when this cruel war is over," comp. Henry Tucker, lyrics by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1868: Piano, voice. Published by Henry Tolman & Co. (Boston).
Item 78: "The Happy Muleteer: bolero," comp. J.H. Tully, lyrics by C. Fitzhall, undated: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 79: "Had I met thee in thy beauty: a favorite ballad," comp. Vaccay, arr. W.C. Peters, lyrics by Lord Byron, 1866: Piano, voice. Published by J.L. Peters (New York).
Item 80: "Black Hawk Waltz," comp. Mary E. Walsh, 1869: Piano. Published by John L. Peters (New York).
Item 81: "The Favorite Blue Bird: polka redowa," comp. Weingarten, 1866: Piano. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 82: "In our hearts 'tis Summer still: quartette with refrain," comp. and lyrics by T. Martin Towne, 1868: Piano, voice. Published by Lyon & Healy.
Item 83: "Where is my boy to night?," comp. J. Henry Whittemore, lyrics by Ladies Repository, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by J. Henry Whittemore.
Item 84: "How are you conscript?," comp. and lyrics by Frank Wilder, 1863: Piano, voice. Published by Henry Tolman & Co. (Boston).
Item 85: "The Maid of Avenel" (from Vocal Beauties of Boildieu's Opera of La Dame Blanch (The White Lady)), comp. Boieldieu, 1865: Piano, voice. Published by Oliver Ditson & Co. (Boston).
Item 86: "Father don't go: song and chorus," comp. and lyrics by William Seibert, 1867: Piano, voice. Published by Lyon & Healy.