?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(MUSIC.) BETHUNE, THOMAS 'BLIND TOM.' The Battle of Manassas for the Piano by Blind Tom. Pictorially engraved cover and nine pages of engraved music; small oval stamp of piano dealers John Ellis and Co. at the foot of the cover. A superb copy. Cleveland: Brainard's Sons, 1866
a rare work by the boy prodigy. Survivals in such fine condition of large pieces of printed music (14 x 11 inches) from this era are uncommon. But this particular work, a long one at that, contains Tom's own description of the work and its genesis. Tom's 'Director' (manager) prefaces this by explaining how he would usually announce each piece at Tom's concerts -- which Tom would then repeat verbatim once they had returned to their hotel. This gave him the idea of allowing Tom to make the introductions himself, which Tom does here in the third person -- as though he were repeating his director's words. His description is important because Tom explains how his music is describing the build-up and then the terrible battle that took 10,000 Union lives.
