Use of these materials in conjunction with letters and diaries can make history more personal. A soldier's mention of a song sung around the campfire in a letter to his family makes us more aware of the daily life of that man. To actually see the music and sing it ourselves transports us to that place and time for a moment. By examining the illustrations we can also study not only changes in fashion and dress, but expectations of appearance and behavior. The collections in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University have been acquired in a wide variety of ways.
Many items are the gifts of generous donors.
Some have been acquired by purchase. The acquisition of music related to Southern history, especially Confederate imprints, has been supported by the funds of the George Washington Flowers Memorial Collection. Background of Music Publishing in the United States Sheet music publishing was well established in the United States by the early 19th century. Much of the music was printed with engraved plates, although in the 1820s there was a fair amount of music published using the lithographic process. Lithography was not very common until the 1840's, when the development of chromolithography made illustrated title pages economically feasible.