(MUSIC) [Walter Thomas] [The Grounds and Rules of Musick Exp

Sale 2163 - Lot 198

Price Realized: $ 3,120

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

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

EXPANDED WITH MORE THAN A HUNDRED TUNES IN MANUSCRIPT (MUSIC.) [Walter, Thomas.] [The Grounds and Rules of Musick Explained]. iii, [1], 25 pages, 16 printed music plates, pages 17-65 of manuscript music, 13 blank pages, 31 additional pages of manuscript music, partial list of songs written on rear pastedown. Oblong 12mo, contemporary calf, worn at extremities and stained; rehinged, lacking title page; several page faults and cellotape repairs, foxing and wear throughout; cover is blind-stamped "Thankfull Hubbard 1759," other signatures on front pastedown and verso of plate 1. [Boston, 1746], annotated through at least 1762

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Additional Details

Fourth edition of this important singing instructional manual, first published in 1721. Includes 121 pieces of manuscript music (full list available upon request). Most of these tunes were widely known in New England, though some of the later ones are in a different hand and seem to postdate the dated portion of the book. For example, "Bridgewater" was a popular tune that did not appear in print until 1782, and "Worcester" first appeared in 1778. See Crawford's 1984 The Core Repertory of Early American Psalmody.
Apparently, early owner Thankfull Hubbard (1749-1772) married Thomas Leonard in 1770 and was a friend of Boston's famous African-American poet Phyllis Wheatley. There were other Thankfull Hubbards in New England during this period, but later owners Thomas Hunnewell (1785-1863) and his son Nathan Munroe Hunnewell (1829-1916) were from an old Boston-area family, suggesting a likely Massachusetts provenance. Evans 5878; Sabin 101196.