Holden, Oliver (1765-1844) Sacred Dirges, Hymns, and Anthems, Commemorative of the Death of General George Washington, the Guardian of

Description:

Holden, Oliver (1765-1844) Sacred Dirges, Hymns, and Anthems, Commemorative of the Death of General George Washington, the Guardian of his Country and the Friend of Man. Boston: by Isaiah Thomas & E.T. Andrews, [1800]. Oblong quarto, first edition, first issue, with the price on the cover lower and without signature G (which appears in the later edition); uncut throughout, each page printed within heavy black mourning borders, bound in the original blue printed wrappers, titled, "Funereal Music, for 22d February. Published according to Act of Congress. [Price, 37 1/2 Cents single--30 Cents by the Dozen.]"; A-F2; 24 pages; original limp paper wraps reinforced with modern paper in the interior, minor soiling and chipping, light toning and offsetting, minor foxing, in a custom case, 11 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.
Oliver Holden served as a marine on the USS Deane during the Revolutionary War, and worked as a carpenter and legislator. "He composed tunes, taught singing-school, and published several volumes of choice hymns and tunes. Among his occasional odes was one for the reception tendered General George Washington when upon his third and last visit to Boston, in October, 1789. Oliver Holden trained a choir of young men for the occasion; and when Washington passed under the triumphal arch at the Old State House, the choir sang to this ode the words, 'George Washington, the hero, is come.'" (Quoted from Beside Old Hearth-Stones, by Abram English Brown, Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers, 1897, page 87).
Titles of these pieces include: "Columbia's Guardian Sleeps in Dust!," several funeral hymns and dirges, and a piece called "Mount Vernon."
Provenance: The Estate of David Spinney.
Estimate $300-500


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