(MUSIC) Billings William The Continental Harmony Containing

Sale 2368 - Lot 197

Price Realized: $ 3,250

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(MUSIC.) Billings, William. The Continental Harmony, Containing a Number of Anthems, Fuges, and Chorusses, in Several Parts. Frontispiece plate (detached and worn with moderate loss). Oblong 8vo, contemporary 1/4 calf, quite worn and lacking front board; moderate foxing, minor dampstaining toward rear, a few short tears. Boston: Isaiah Thomas, 1794

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

first edition. Billings was a prominent Boston composer. In 1770, he was the first American to publish his own collection of original music. The present compilation was published by an alliance of several Boston music societies as a charitable endeavor when Billings and his family slipped into poverty. It includes 51 compositions, all but five of them appearing here for the first time. Many of the tunes are named after towns in the Boston area, such as "Dedham," "Hopkinton," and "Cohasset." One composition is engraved on the frontispiece, with four voices arranged to show that "every tune is a Compleat circle." A long instructional introduction is addressed "to the several teachers of music, in this and the adjacent states." Britton & Lowens, American Sacred Music 104 and pages 169-170 (cites Billings' "historical position as an American musician of real significance"); Evans 26673; Sabin 5415. Provenance: Originally property of the Treble Singers of Sharon, MA (1806 inscription); sold to benefit the Sharon Historical Society. This important collection has been often reprinted, but we are aware of no other copies of the first edition at auction.