A. Merril Smoak, Jr., Round Note Tunebooks, 18th & 19th Century

Atwill, Thomas H. The New-York Collection of Sacred Harmony, containing The necessary Rules of Music with a variety of Psalm & Hymn Tunes set Pieces & Anthems, Many of which are Original: Compiled for the use of Worshipping Assemblies & Singing Societies, From the most approved Ancient & Modern Authors. Albany: Printed by the Author, (ca. 1803).  [8981]

The book is covered in a calf or buckskin wrapper, sewn to itself in a zig-zag pattern over the paste-downs. The covers appear to be card and not wood. Oblong 13.25 cm (5 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches), lacks all free end papers. VIII., 1-72, 81-104. Defective: lacking the 4 center leaves. Fair. Hardcover.

6 leaves of manuscript music in round notes sewn in at back, with the tunes Cambridge, Ascension, China, North Salem, Watchman, Exhortation, Littleton, and Savannah.

"Published according to Act of Congress."

The first edition was "Engraved for the Editor, by Abner Reed, Lansingburg, 1795," with viii., 104 pp. A second printing was issued in 1802, using the same plates. Reed was also the engraver of this tunebook, identified at the bottom of the Index page.

The Second Edition (1804) had a new title, "The New York & Vermont Collection of Sacred Harmony..." It also had new pagination: viii., [9]-15, [1], 112. It has this prefatory note: "Hitherto known by the title of the 'New-york Collection', since it has been printed by the Author's own hands, have induced him to present to the public this second Edition enlarged and corrected..."

The printing offered to you here has the same page numbers as the 1795 & 1802 printings, uses the same plates, with the change in the imprint to "Printed by the Author." Since the 1802 printing had the Lansingburg imprint, and the Second edition of 1804 has a changed title & pagination, and with the note by Atwill that he had been printing copies "with his own hands," we deem this an 1803 printing, unrecorded. This printing is not in Britton & Lowens, American Sacred Music Imprints, 1698-1810, where the first & second editions are recorded in detail.

The Index claims that the following tunes included here were "never before published." Andover, Addison, Amanda, Brookfield, Boston, Etna, Gratitude, Hillsborough, Millennium, Messiah, Poughkeepsie, Pardoning-Grace, Pomfret, Ripton, Sounding Joy, Suffering Saviour, Spain, Troy, Torringford, Pobsfield, Westpoint, Warren, and Anthem from Isa. 1st.

Thomas H. Atwill (1760-1814), b. Pittsfield, MA; d. Rutland, VT. "A contract [dated Feb. 9, 1801] between the firm of Thomas and Thomas (Isaiah Thomas's branch in Walpole, New Hampshire) and Thomas H. Atwill for the printing of Atwill's New York and Vermont Collection specified that Atwill pay the firm $600 over the period of a year for 4,000 copies of his work. He was also required to furnish the paper! Since this tunebook was printed from engraved plates, supplied by Atwill, and not music type, the $600 figure apparantly represented only the labor and binding costs." - Karl Kroeger, Isaiah Thomas as Music Publisher, American Antiquarian Society.

Benham, Asahel. Federal Harmony: containing, in a familiar manner. The rudiments of psalmody, together with a collection of church music; (most of which are entirely new). Middletown: Moses H. Woodward, 1794?. [9391]

Leather spine with plain paper boards, lacks about 2/3 of the board front and back, oblong 11 cm, (4 1/2 x 7 5/8 inches). 7-10, [9]-16, 15-58 (engraved plates). DEFECTIVE: lacking all free end papers, title page [1], blank [2], introductory note [3], and Index [4]. That is, it lacks the first 2 leaves and the free end papers. The correct paging is [4], 7-10, [9]-16, 15-58. Pages 15-58 are engraved music, and there is engraved music in columns on pp. 8-10. Poor.

Without the title page it is impossible to tell if this edition is the 4th (1794), the 5th (1795), or the 6th (1796), as all have the same pagination. All three were published in Middletown by Woodward. See nos. 92-94 in Britton, Lowens, & Crawford, American Sacred Music Imprints, 1698-1810.

The music is in four parts with round notes.

"All editions of Federal Harmony display garbled paging...in the second and all later editions of the work there is a gap between the first four pages and the rudiments (as if p. 5-6 were missing), and an overlap after the second typeset group, with pages 15 and 16 (left unnumbered in the second and third editions but numbered thereafter) being followed by pages 15 and 16 of the music." - ibid.

Asahel Benham (1754-1803), b. New Hartford, CT; buried at Wallingford, CT. Benahm was a composer and singing-master in New England and as far south as Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Benham, Asahel. Social Harmony: containing, First, The Rudiments of Psalmody made easy. Second, A Collection of Modern Music, calculated for the use of Singing Schools and Worshipping Assemblies; By Asahel Benham, Author of Federal Harmony. Published according to Act of Congress, [1801]. First Edition, Second Issue. [8984]

Leather spine, plain paper over card, oblong 12 cm (4 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches), lacks about a third of the front board. First three leaves tattered at fore-edge with some loss of text. (1)-4, 9-60.  Defective: lacking "Rudiments," pp. 5-8. All engraved music pages present. Fair. Hardcover.

Preface ends, "Wallingford, September 6, 1798."

95A (p. 166) in Britton, Lowens & Crawford. The 60 pp. identifies this as the second issue of the first edition, with the four additional p. "printed from plates originally used for Woodruff, Devotional Harmony [1801]. Therefore this issue was first published in 1801 or later...Not in Evans or Shaw-Shoemaker (no copy on Readex)."

"Benham's Social Harmony was printed several times, but with only one change in date and one change in musical content, and with no indication of edition number. Copies take three forms: a 56-page issue with a preface date 6 Sept. 1798, a 60-page issue with the same preface date, and a 56-page issue with a preface date 6 Sept. 1799. The music on pages 17-56 of all versions is printed from the same engraved plates, the 60-page issue merely adding four new pages of music at end." - ibid.

P. 17 identifies the engraver as C. Beecher.

Cole, I. P. [compiler]. Cole's Pocket Edition of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, containing Most of the Tunes used in the Different Churches. (copy-right secured). Albany: I. P. Cole, (1836). Sixth Edition. [8980]

Leather spine with printed paper over card, oblong 9.5 cm (3 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches), front cover detached, lacks the front & rear free end papers. 10, 300, (2), text complete. Foxing, some stains. Good. Hardcover.

Cover title varies: Cole's Pocket Edition of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, containing Most of the Standard Music used in the different Churches throughout the Country; to which is prefixed, A Brief Introduction to Vocal Music. Seventh Edition. Albany: Printed, Published and Sold by Hoffman & White, No. 71 State-Street and Sold by I. P. Cole, No. 80 State-Street, 1836.

Isaac Packard Cole is listed in Philadelphia directories for 1821-24, in New York City directories for 1827-34, and in Albany, N.Y., directories for 1834-37.

Forbush, Abijah. The Psalmodist's Assistant: containing An Original Composition of Psalm and Hymn Tunes; together with A Number of Favourite Pieces from different Authors. To which is prefixed, An Introduction to the Grounds of Music. Boston: Manning & Loring, 1806. Second Edition. [8983]

The original binding sometime covered in deer or calfskin, folded over the boards and sewn with twine, connecting the sides over the paste-downs. The original binding may be seen to be covered in blue paper over wooden boards. Text block now separated from binding. Oblong 14 cm (5 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches), lacks the front free end papers, text block shaken. (1)-iv.), [iv. misnumbered as v.], [5]-107, (1). Text is complete. Music is four parts with round notes. Fair. Hardcover.

The first edition was published in 1803, with 67 pp. This second edition has 100 selections. Most are composed by Forbush, with other compositions by William Eager, Samuel Babcock, Abraham Maxim, Jeremiah Ingalls, Abraham Wood, Daniel Belknap, Oliver Holden, Benjamin Holt, and Timothy Swan.

Abijah Forbush (1779-1845), a native of Massachusetts, and "a composer, [who] published only his own music in the first edition of his only tunebook, then added pieces by other composers to the second." - Britton, Lowens & Crawford, p. 275.

Gould, N. D. Juvenile Harmony: containing Appropriate Hymns and Music, for Sabbath Schools, Sabbath School Anniversaries, and Family Devotion. Boston: Gould, Kendall and Lincoln, 1837. [8975]

Blue printed wrapper with paper backing, crude sewn repair over spine fold, front nearly detached. Oblong 10.5 cm (4 1/4 x 9 inches), 36 pp., text complete. Some ink scribbles, small stains, creases, turned corners. Good. Stiff wraps.

The music has three parts, round notes.

Nathaniel Duren Gould (1781-1864), b. Bedford, MA; d. Boston, MA. Gould was a singing-school teacher and tunebook compiler. "He studied vocal music with Reuben Emerson. He organized his first singing school in Stoddard, N.H. (1798). He then formed the New Ipswich military band (1804), and was conductor of the Middlesex (Mass.) Musical Soc. (from 1805). From 1819 he lived mainly in Boston, where he was active as a teacher of vocal music and chirography. He publ. 8 anthologies for singing-school use, including National Church Harmony (1832; 4th ed., 1836)." - J. Ingalls, N. D. G. 1781-1864 (thesis, U. of Lowell, MA, 1980).