(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION LINCOLN ABRAHAM) ThatEFBFBDEFBFBDEFBFBDs WhatEFBFBDEFBFBDEFBFBDs the M

Sale 2137 - Lot 36

Price Realized: $ 1,680

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

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500

(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION--LINCOLN, ABRAHAM.) That's What's the Matter With the Purps A Comic Song (cover title); Dat's What's De Matter Wid De Purps inside title. Engraved sheet music depicting a black man with Abe Lincoln and Jefferson Davis each depicted as a dog biting the black man's leg. 3 pages, folio, some wear and foxing; a few insect specks to the lower right corner of the front cover. Cincinnati, New York, Nashville: Published by the Author, circa 1863

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A very rare political satire, whose message is clear: neither Jefferson Davis nor Abe Lincoln mean the black man any good. The lyrics are intensely cynical, the last verse reading: "The Yanks fight Secesh, and de Secesh fight de Yankees, it was mighty hard to tell, who had gained the most advantage, Abe called out his Nigga boys and Jeff, said he would too, So Nigga fight de Nigga, wid de Hoop te do'n doo." The phrase in the chorus, "Dat's What's de Matter" was a common punch-line in the minstrelsy of the period. We could find no record of another copy of this sheet music, nor any indication of the author. The copyright notice reads "entered according to Act of Congress A.D. 1863 for the Author, by Tripp & Cragg, in the Clerk's Office of the District court of Ky."