America Singing: Nineteenth Century Song Sheets

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• Learn more about American history, British history, and music.

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“Song sheets are single printed sheets, usually six by eight inches, with lyrics but no music.” America Singing is a Library of Congress online collection of 4291 mostly American songs sheets. 97 are British. “The collection spans the period from the turn of the nineteenth century to the 1880s, although a majority of the song sheets were published during the height of the craze, from the 1850s to the 1870s.” Examples of songs that originated in song sheet form and reflected in this collection are “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

These songs sheets may be searched by keyword or browsed by title, name, or publisher. Each song sheet is initially viewed as a thumbnail image but can be enlarged for clear viewing. A transcript also accompanies the image.Providing context about these materials is an introductory text that describes the history, the printing and publishing, the popularity, and the diversity of song sheets.