1865 · Philadelphia
by [AFRICAN AMERICANA] HOWARD, W.P. [BLIND TOM [aka Thomas Bethune; aka Thomas Wiggins]
Philadelphia: J. Marsh, 1865. Quarto. Folded sheets; [5]pp. Slight cover soil; faint tidemark at upper forecorner throughout; Very Good.
Tom Wiggins, born into slavery in 1849, revealed his prodigious musical abilities at a very early age. His concert career began at the age of four, and by the beginning of the Civil War he had earned thousands of dollars for his owner, Georgia lawyer and publisher James Neill Bethune. Following the war, Tom chose to remain in the custody of the Bethune family, and by the time of his death had amassed for his managers a fortune estimated at three-quarters of a million dollars.
The composition was by W.B. Howard, an Atlanta music teacher who became Tom's some-time musical tutor after the Civil War (he accompanied Tom on his 1866 tour of Europe). "Mother Dear Mother" became one of Tom's signature set pieces. This is the first published edition, but does not feature the handsome lithographed portrait of Tom found on the only other recorded edition, published in London in 1870. Scarce; 2 only in OCLC (Mich, BYU). (Inventory #: 82010)
Tom Wiggins, born into slavery in 1849, revealed his prodigious musical abilities at a very early age. His concert career began at the age of four, and by the beginning of the Civil War he had earned thousands of dollars for his owner, Georgia lawyer and publisher James Neill Bethune. Following the war, Tom chose to remain in the custody of the Bethune family, and by the time of his death had amassed for his managers a fortune estimated at three-quarters of a million dollars.
The composition was by W.B. Howard, an Atlanta music teacher who became Tom's some-time musical tutor after the Civil War (he accompanied Tom on his 1866 tour of Europe). "Mother Dear Mother" became one of Tom's signature set pieces. This is the first published edition, but does not feature the handsome lithographed portrait of Tom found on the only other recorded edition, published in London in 1870. Scarce; 2 only in OCLC (Mich, BYU). (Inventory #: 82010)
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