SHEET MUSIC: Little Eva; Uncle Tom's Guardian Angel.
[Stowe, Harriet Beecher]. Whittier, John G[reenleaf]. Little Eva; Uncle Tom’s Guardian Angel Composed and Most Respectfully Dedicated to Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” Poetry by John G. Whittier Music by Manuel Emilio. Boston: John P. Jewett & Company. New York: Newman & Ivison, 1852.
Off-white printed sheets, 10-5/8” x 14-1/8”; interior fresh; with vignette of Little Eva and Uncle Tom signed Baker-Smith at the front cover; clear tape applied along the left edge; 1/2” tear lower edge (front cover); some surface creasing; one or two short tears and a few small dots of foxing; 2” tear from fore-edge at back panel with several other shallow tears; altogether an attractive, very good cop. In a custom-made case.
State A. First edition. John Jewett had published Uncle Tom’s Cabin with a ten percent royalty payable to Mrs. Stowe, Harriet and her sister Catherine having declined his offer to split cost and profit equally. The stunning success of the book convinced them they had made the wrong decision; Catherine, in fact, was furious, sure that the canny publisher had taken advantage of their naïveté. Jewett had pledged, however, to promote the book assiduously and “spare no pains nor expense nor effort to push the book into an unparalleled circulation.” Joan Hedrick in her very fine biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe explains, “the cultural elaborations of this publishing event are owing to his efforts.” Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as a contemporary observer commented, “will enter largely into exhibitions of paintings and statuary. It will have its music.” Jewett ensured the book would have its music by commissioning John Greenleaf Whittier for $50.00 to write a poem about Little Eva “and getting someone else to set the words to music.” The poem first appeared in the newspaper The Independent and was circulated from hand to hand. One Beecher wrote of his verses, “They are beautiful but you should hear Charles [Beecher] sing them, in his clear, rich voice, to know their full power.”
The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, in many ways, was the critical event of 19th century America. For decades politicians had sought by compromise to defang the issue of slavery, while its poisons continued to seep through American society. The effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was to take the issue of slavery away from the politicians and a small radical band of abolitionists into the popular culture. The novel inundated America, sweeping away whatever appearance of right or propriety claimed by proponents of slavery. This sheet music, like the plays and prints and other items which arose in the wake of the novel, suggest the massive impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and how it pushed the young nation to confront an issue it had sought to evade since its inception. It is one of the most resonant artifacts of America’s political and literary past. BAL 21776. Blanck pictures page 1 of the sheet music on 130 (Volume VI) and cites six locations (not noting which states are found at the various locations). OCLC records four copies of State A.
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