May 07, 2020 - Sale 2534

Sale 2534 - Lot 339

Unsold
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(MUSIC.) Bethune, Thomas, a.k.a. "Blind Tom." Tom, the Blind Negro Boy Pianist, Only 10 Years Old: Oliver Gallop. 4 pages including cover. Folio, 13 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches, disbound, with original pictorial lithographed cover (copyright line cropped), lacking rear wrapper; minor offsetting and wear. New York: Horace Waters, 1860
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Additional Details

The first piece of sheet music published by the famous Blind Tom. Thomas Wiggins Bethune (1849-1908) faced three overwhelming obstacles to success at birth: slavery, blindness, and a condition which is today generally agreed to be autism. He proved himself at a very early age to be a musical prodigy, spending up to twelve hours a day on the piano, and capable of replicating performances by ear. He was hired out at the age of eight to a promoter named Perry Oliver, for whom this composition, "The Oliver Gallop," was named. Another piece, the "Virginia Polka," was published at the same time with the same cover. Blind Tom continued touring and performing long after emancipation, although having been declared non compos mentis, he was never truly emancipated. He remained a ward of the extended Bethune family for the remainder of his life.