C.D. Benson, Here's Your Mule, lithographed sheet music, Nashville, Tenn., 1862. Catalog record
The collection of sheet music at the American Antiquarian Society consists of about 60,000 pieces of instrumental, vocal, secular, and religious music by both American and foreign composers that were printed through 1900. The collection includes works published in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
Access
All sheet music published before 1800 is cataloged in the General Catalog. Over 200 pieces of music published during the Civil War are also cataloged in the General Catalog.
The uncataloged sheet music collection is shelved by several categories.
- Non-Pictorial Covers: This category is the largest portion of the collection and is arranged by composer. These titles can be accessed through a index card file in the reading room.
- Pictorial Covers: These decorative song sheets add a visual dimension to the musical content. Some of the artists who created covers for sheet music include Winslow Homer, Fanny Palmer, and Fitz Henry Lane. These titles can be accessed through an index card file in the reading room.
- Authors Collection: Music with lyrics by writers and poets are arranged by author’s last name, rather than by composer.
- Worcester Collection: This category comprises music either composed by a Worcester native, published in Worcester, or celebrating a Worcester subject.
Resources
Both Richard J. Wolfe's bibliography Secular Music in America, 1801-1825 (New York, 1964) and [A Bibliography of Early Secular Music 18th Century] (Washington, 1945) by Oscar G. T. Sonneck and William T. Upton, are annotated to reflect AAS holdings.
The Sheet Music Consortium provides tools and services that promote access to and use of online sheet music collections by scholars, students, and the general public. Hosted at UCLA.