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The Historic American Sheet Music collection presents 3,042 pieces of
sheet music drawn from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections
Library at Duke University, which holds an important, representative, and
comprehensive collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century
American sheet music. This selection presents a significant perspective
on American history and culture through a variety of music types including
bel canto, minstrel songs, protest songs,
sentimental songs, patriotic and
political songs, plantation songs,
spirituals, dance
music, songs from vaudeville and musicals, "Tin pan alley" songs, and
songs from World War I. The collection is particularly strong in
antebellum Southern music, Confederate imprints, and Civil
War songs and music. Also included are piano music of marches,
variations, opera
excerpts, and dance music, including waltzes, quadrilles,
polkas, etc.
Cover illustrations represent an important, and in some cases almost
unique, source of information for popular contemporary ideas on politics,
patriotism, race, religion, love, and sentiment.
The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its
resources available and useful to Congress and the American people and to
sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity
for future generations. The goal of the Library's National Digital
Library Program is to offer broad public access to a wide range of
historical and cultural documents as a contribution to education and
lifelong learning. Digital collections from other institutions complement
and enhance the Library's own resources.
The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record
of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes,
perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress
and Duke University do not endorse the views expressed in these collections,
which may contain materials offensive to some readers.
Home Page for
this Collection at Duke University*
The digitization and presentation of these materials by the
Digital
Scriptorium at Duke University*
was supported by an award from the Library of
Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition.
Links marked
* are to web pages
mounted at the awardee institution. The digital reproductions of the
sheet music are also mounted at the awardee institution.
The source materials for this collection are housed at the Rare Book, Manuscript, and
Special Collections Library, Duke University.*
Please contact the
library at Duke University with any questions or
information about the original materials or requests for reproductions.
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