Sources of The Shenandoah Harmony

May 1, 2012 by Rachel

I hope you’ve had a chance to check out our preview packet!  You will notice that each song—with the exception of songs by living composers—has a little code in the top corner of the page.  The letters tell you the source and the numbers indicate the page number in that source.  See the second page of the preview packet for a list of abbreviations.  As I am explaining in a lengthy post about editing the book, we have made various changes to songs, so if you’re interested in this sort of thing we encourage you to check out the original sources, too.

Many of these sources are freely available online; others belong to the Early American Imprints Series (EAI).  You can find the EAI series and index number through the Hymn Tune Index.  Many major university libraries have this series on microprint. I was also able to gain online access through the Philadelphia Free Library, though not all documents are online.

Here are the chief sources of The Shenandoah Harmony, with some tips on how to find facsimiles.  Warren Steel’s page Tunebooks, Music Books, and Hymnals is an invaluable resource.

• The Kentucky Harmony (Davisson, 1816, 1817, etc.).  Ed.1 was published as a facsimile by Da Capo press.  Both ed.1 and ed.2 are available through EAI.
• The Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony (Davisson, 1820).  Facsimile posted by Robert Stoddard.
• The Hesperian Harp (Hauser, 1848).  Facsimile posted and indexed by Berkeley Moore.
• The Southern Harmony (Walker, 1835).  Facsimile of the 1847 edition, which includes the original songs from 1835, on the Library of Congress site.  Facsimile of the 1854 edition on hymnary.org.
• The Social Harp (McCurry, 1855).  Facsimile available as “print on demand” from Amazon.
• The Christian Harmony (Ingalls, 1805).  Facsimile published by Da Capo Press; also on EAI (round notes).
• Wyeth’s Repository, Part II (Wyeth, 1813).  Facsimile published by Da Capo Press; also on EAI.
• The American Vocalist (Mansfield, 1849).  IMSLP (in round notes).
• The Southern and Western Pocket Harmonist (Walker, 1860).  Facsimile on hymnary.org.
• The Sacred Melodeon (Hayden, 1849).  IMSLP (in Aiken shapes).