PATRIOTIC

Boxes 11-16 and 1-2

(1050 items)
"Adams and Liberty" was written in 1798 to the same anacreontic melody as "The Star Spangled Banner". There are more than 50 later editions of the latter. "The New Federal Song" was written to the air of "Washington's March" and re-christened, eventually, "Hail Columbia". It remained popular for a number of years. The collection has a first edition with a letter by Joseph Hopkinson, the author. There are over 80 other editions of "Hail Columbia" in the collection. Another first edition is that of the words and piano arrangement of "Yankee Doodle", published in 1796 by J. Hewitt's Musical Repository, New York. There are 60 other editions of "Yankee Doodle", mostly instrumental, in the collection.

The first edition of "My Country 'tis of Thee" carries with it a hand written copy of the full set of words by the author, Samuel F. Smith. "The Battle of Trenton" (1800) by a well-known composer, James Hewitt, has a title page with General Washington's profile as its most prominent feature. "The Martial Music of Camp Dupont" carries a detailed picture of the camp on an inside page.

The patriotic section includes a motley collection of music concerning our citizens' feelings towards their country. From the end of the 18th century onward, the form became less and less stilted. The middle of the 19th century produced, among lesser known declarations of fealty, a tremendously popular song "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean", entitled originally "Columbia the Land of the Brave". Also included in the patriotic category is "Home Sweet Home", the most popular song of the 1820s, 1830s and later, because it was regarded by so many as a declaration of loyalty.

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