(MUSIC SHEET MUSIC) BETHUNE THOMAS (BLIND TOM) Tom the Blin

Sale 2271 - Lot 436

Price Realized: $ 2,400

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

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(MUSIC--SHEET MUSIC.) BETHUNE, THOMAS ("BLIND TOM"). Tom, the Blind Negro Boy Pianist. Only Ten Years Old. "The Oliver Gallop." Engraved sheet music with lithographic cover. 5 pages. Folio, original pictorial self-wrappers. An exceptional copy of a piece usually found in deplorable condition. New York: Horace Waters, Boston: Ditson, 1860

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

a scarce piece of original music by "blind tom." The title,"The Oliver Gallop," was named for Tom's owner, Perry H. Oliver. Thomas "Blind Tom" Bethune was born on May 25th, 1849, with a condition that doctors today would diagnose as "autistic savant"--one of only 1000 recorded cases in medical history. Tom's father Domingue Wiggins, a field slave, and his mother, Charity Greene, were purchased by James Bethune of Columbus Georgia. Tom, a sickly boy, was thrown in at no extra cost. From infancy, Tom displayed an uncommon talent for music, and by the age of six was entertaining people from the plantation. By eight, Tom was publicly presented throughout the state by Colonel James. Soon after, Bethune hired Tom out to Perry Oliver, a tobacco planter who promoted him around the country. In 1864, Bethune convinced Tom's natural parents to appoint him Tom's legal guardian. In the end, Bethune and others made a fortune from the talents of Blind Tom, who, though well fed and clothed, never enjoyed the full benefit of his earnings.