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The Story of the Jubilee Singers, With Their Songs by J.B.T. Marsh (RARE, Revised Edition, Original Program), 1880 🎶📜🧐

Name: The Story of the Jubilee Singers, With Their Songs by J.B.T. Marsh (RARE, Revised Edition, Original Program), 1880 🎶📜🧐
Brand: Wall Antiques
Price: 2250.00 USD
Availability: InStock

$2,250.00

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1. Introduction 📜🔍🏛️

This rare 1880 revised edition of The Story of the Jubilee Singers, with their Songs is a literary artifact and a cornerstone for any serious collection of American history.

The book serves as a primary source documenting the historic tours of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an ensemble of students, many of whom were formerly enslaved, organized to raise funds for the financially struggling Fisk University.

Authored by J.B.T. Marsh, this volume is a crucial record of their journey, their impact on racial perceptions, and the evolution of American musical forms. The book’s publication in 1880 captures the group’s immense success after their tours and their role in popularizing a new form of music.

The group's early performances in 1871 were a daring fundraising experiment. The book's inclusion of an original program advertisement from a concert in the 1870s adds a unique layer of historical depth. This program provides a tangible connection to the group's live performances and is a one-of-a-kind artifact, chronicling a moment when they were touring the country.

2. About the Artwork/Book/Object 📖✍️✨

The Story of the Jubilee Singers, with their Songs is a narrative that chronicles the Fisk Jubilee Singers' challenges and triumphs, highlighting the power of their music to transcend racial barriers.

The book not only tells their story but also includes the lyrics and musical notations of their songs, preserving a crucial part of African American musical history. The work is described on the program as "As Interesting and Wonderful as any Romance" and it contains a list of the original company members from 1871.

This revised edition is an abridgment of an earlier history, with more fully written personal histories and new songs added.

The book serves as a primary source documenting the historic tours of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This narrative chronicles their journey, their challenges, and their triumphs, including the fact that they faced poor hotel conditions and mistreatment from the press and audiences in the early days.

The book includes a foreword by E.M. Cravath, the President of Fisk University.

3. About the Artist/Author/Maker ✍️🏛️🎶

J.B.T. Marsh was an author who played a vital role in documenting and promoting the Fisk Jubilee Singers and their music. His work, The Story of the Jubilee Singers, with their Songs, serves as a historical record of their tours and a reflection of their musical achievements. Marsh's efforts to preserve and share the spirituals performed by the Jubilee Singers contributed significantly to the recognition and appreciation of African American musical traditions.

The book was published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company; The Riverside Press, a notable name in the late 19th century. The publisher was known for its willingness to publish a diverse range of American authors, including new voices like those in this book.

Marsh's narrative documents the Jubilee Singers' challenges and triumphs, highlighting the power of their music to transcend racial barriers. He was an advocate for the group, and his work is a foundational piece in American music history, capturing the spirit and sacrifices of the singers.

4. Historical/Political Era Context 🌍🕰️📜

Published in 1880, this book is a tangible link to the Reconstruction era, a period when the nation was grappling with the legacy of slavery and the integration of newly freed African Americans into society. This was a dangerous time for students at Fisk, who were routinely assaulted and whipped by Ku Klux Klan nightriders.

The book's existence is a demonstration of the power of music to bridge racial divides and bring about social change, documenting a period when a group of formerly enslaved people used their art to fund their education.

The group’s tours, which often followed the path of the Underground Railroad, directly challenged the societal norms and prejudices of the time. The book captures the importance of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' tours and their impact on American society. Their mission was to sing to the heart, and this book documents how they accomplished that, raising funds to save their university from financial ruin.

5. The Ideal Collector 💡🧐🏛️

This book is a curated holding for a specific class of collector who values intellectual and cultural history above all else. The ideal purchaser is a scholar of American music history, a historian of the Reconstruction era, or a private collector building a focused collection of early African American cultural works.

This book would be a centerpiece in a library dedicated to the history of civil rights or American music.

The group performed for influential figures, including President Ulysses S. Grant at the White House and Queen Victoria in England, making this book a tangible link to these historic moments.

The ideal owner would be someone who understands the impact of the Fisk Jubilee Singers on American society. This book speaks directly to a buyer who is a historian at heart, someone who understands the profound story behind an object and its place in the struggle for racial equality in America.

6. Value & Rarity 💎✨🏛️

As a rare revised edition from 1880, this book is a unique and non-replicable asset. Its value is derived from its market scarcity and its documented history as a pivotal work of American history and music. The tours were a major financial success, with the first tour earning $40,000 for the university and a later tour raising an estimated $150,000 to construct Jubilee Hall, a National Historic Landmark.

This is the "eightieth thousand" edition, which indicates its immense popularity and reach during the time of publication.

The book is 145 years old and survived the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From a curatorial and financial perspective, this book’s worth is focused on its rarity and unique history. The inclusion of the original program advertisement makes it a truly unique piece of intellectual history. The book’s well-preserved state, including its pictorial cloth binding, justifies its premium price.

7. Condition 🔎📚✨

This copy is a genuine and handsome survivor, showing the authentic wear of a cherished book from the late 19th century.

The binding is original pictorial cloth, and it shows authentic wear consistent with its age, including rubbing, scuffing, and some loss of the original finish on the spine and edges.
The gilt lettering and illustration on the cover are faded but still discernible.
The pages have some expected discoloration, but the text remains clear and readable.
The overall condition reflects a book that has been cared for and cherished, with its structural integrity remaining solid.

8. Translation of Inscriptions/Ephemera (Conditional) ✍️📜🔤

The book includes a program advertisement with a detailed list of songs and performers. The program is composed chiefly of Slave Songs or "Spirituals," a genre that the singers were instrumental in preserving and popularizing. Their repertoire also included songs by white composer Stephen Foster, though the spirituals were what captivated audiences.

The advertisement states "Nearly One Hundred Thousand copies sold". The program also lists the various parts of the concert, including a Bass Solo and a Male Quartette.

The program is for the Original Company, Organized in 1871. While no personal inscription is present in this book, the included program provides a tangible connection to the live performances.

The group's director, George L. White, named them "Jubilee Singers" in memory of the biblical "year of jubilee" when enslaved people were to be set free.

9. Fun Facts & Unique Features 🤓📜🤩

This volume is a fascinating example of a "crossover" collectible that appeals to collectors of rare books, American history, and music history.
On their first tour, the group donated their small profit to the victims of the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871, leaving them with no money for themselves.
The group endured a "punishing schedule" that led to exhaustion, with one advance man suffering a nervous breakdown and contralto Minnie Tate's voice being torn to shreds.
After a performance for Henry Ward Beecher in New York, donations poured in, and the group started performing their spirituals to sold-out venues, helping to establish the genre as a cherished part of the nation's musical heritage.
The group, consisting of many formerly enslaved people, faced and overcame prejudice on their historic tour of the United States and Europe. They also famously performed for Queen Victoria in April 1873, an event that marked their universal acclaim.
One of the original members, Benjamin Holmes, was in the slave mart when he read of the Emancipation Proclamation and later, as a teacher, had someone shoot through his classroom window for teaching "colored" schools.