Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -

Sale 2697 - Lot 196

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(ENTERTAINMENT--MUSIC.) Justin Holland. Holland's Comprehensive Method for the Guitar. 173, [3] pages plus advertisements on endpapers. Quarto, 12 x 9¾ inches, original printed cloth-backed boards, moderate wear; hinges split, minor wear to contents including a small puncture running through the lower inner margin of every leaf. Boston, 1874
Request Condition Report Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

First edition of the first comprehensive American classical guitar instructional manual. Justin Holland (1819-1887) was raised in Virginia, moved to Chelsea, MA as a teenager after the death of his parents, enrolled as one of the first Black students at Oberlin College in 1841, and spent two years in Mexico to increase his understanding of Spanish guitar techniques. In Cleveland, he became a noted classical guitarist, in addition to his involvement in the Underground Railroad and other causes.

This manual includes pointers on technique, illustrations, exercises, and introductory pieces. Holland's preface lists the previous guitar instructional works he drew upon, noting that "they are all foreign works."

The book went through several editions, but only one first edition is recorded in OCLC (Boston Public Library), and we trace no other examples at auction. Provenance: gift from a visitor at a hunting lodge in Duhamel, Quebec to the caretakers; consigned by their grandchild.

Also in This Catalogue