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Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(WASHINGTON, GEORGE.) Sheet music for "The Battle of Prague," illustrated with a Washington portrait. Engraved title page with inset Washington portrait. 8 pages. 4to, 13 x 9 1/2 inches, disbound; dampstaining to fore-edge, moderate foxing, marginal loss to 3rd leaf with minimal loss of printing, early inked music seller's stamp on title page. Boston: Gottlieb Graupner, circa 1800-10
"The Battle of Prague" was a popular piece of martial music composed by Franz Kotzwara, imitating the sounds of battle. This early American printing sought to capitalize on the late president's popularity through the use of an engraved portrait by Wetherbee after Joseph Wright (Hart 153a). It remained a popular piece through the late 19th century, when Mark Twain offered a humorous description of an amateur performance which "shed a new light on human suffering" in A Tramp Abroad. with--another piece of Washington-related music, "Washington's March," one page in the same size. New York: E. Riley, circa 1820s.
