The American Vocalist. A Selection of Tunes, Anthems, Sentences, and Hymns, old and new, Designed for the Church, the Vestry or the Parlor [...]

Boston: Brown, Taggard and Chase, Publishers, 1849. Hard Cover. Fair/No Jacket. Blue printed paper covered boards with a leather spine. Oblong format. 360 pp. A songster, song book/hymnal containing both religious and secular songs, including many short ones on various cities, towns and states around the United States. Many by composers such as Billings, Holden, Edson, Holyoke, Kimball, Morgan, Wood, Swan and others. Selected and edited by Daniel H. Mansfield, a reverend from Maine, this work 'combined elements of the elite and popular music cultures of his day,' drawing from the 'legacy of Puritan New England,' as well as work from Boston's European movement (Religions of the United States in Practice, Vol. 1 p 96). Also of note, many of the pieces in the second and third section of the work were related to millennial themes, reflecting the influence and importance of the Millerite movement (ibid p. 96). FAIR condition. Heavy darkening to the paper, with moderate soiling and staining. Covers creased, very scuffed and worn looking, with the paper peeled off in several 1 to 2 inch sections, especially along the extremities. Extremities bumped and worn. Interior solid, with moderate to heavy scattered foxing, some staining and soiling throughout, including a faint dampstain at the lower corner of the first several pages.