Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 19: Art and Literature
name: label: Creator
content: DeVincent, Sam, 1918-1997
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution in 1988 from Sam and Nancy Lee DeVincent.
creator: label: Creator
content: DeVincent, Sam, 1918-1997
setName: label: See more items in
content: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 19: Art and Literature
abstract: label: Summary
content: Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age. 

Series 19, Art and Literature contains approximately 860 pieces of sheet music and other materials documenting popular attitudes towards art and literature in the United States.  

An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 12 Boxes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1830-1983
label: Date
content: undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0300.S19
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in 7 subseries.

19.1: Art and Artists

19.2: Cover Artists and Early Lithograph Covers

19.3: Photography

19.4: Carving and Whittling

19.5: Books, Diary, and Stories

19.6: Poets and Poetry

19.7: Ephemera
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Series 19, Art and Literature, 1830-1983, undated, contains approximately 860 pieces of sheet music and other materials documenting popular attitudes towards art and literature in the United State. The dates always refer to copyright of the music and not to the subject on the cover, songwriter's life, or other events. In addition, there are two folders of ephemera arranged in the same subseries order as the music listing, which is described following the Container List.

Subseries 1, Art and Artists, 1839-1977, undated, these songs and instrumental compositions reference fine arts and famous artists such as da Vinci.

Subseries 2, Cover Artists and Early Lithograph Covers, 1830-1931, undated, sheet music cover artists are the largest part of this section, which also includes daguerreotypes, die cut chromolithographs, and early lithographs. More than half of the items in this subseries are E. T. Paull covers. Also see Series 9.4 with images of men and women on the covers.

Subseries 3, Photography, 1848-1966, contains songs with "picture" in the title and songs about photography.

Subseries 4, Carving and Whittling, 1906-1947, most of the titles are about carving. Also see Series 12.1, Plants and Animals/Trees.

Subseries 5, Books, Diary, and Stories, 1849-1983, undated, contains songs about books and diaries; author Charles Dickens; and imaginary characters such as brownies, elves, fairies, gnomes, imps, and midgets.

Subseries 6, Poets and Poetry, 1836-1969, undated, contains songs about poets and poetry, including several with lyrics by, or inspired by, poets such as Browning, Longfellow, Riley, Shakespeare, and Tennyson.

Ephemera: Two folders are in Ephemera Box 67.

Material related to this series within the DeVincent Collection may be found in Series 9, Family and Community Life and Series 12, Plants and Animals.
relatedmaterial: label: Materials in Other Organizations
content: Sam DeVincent Collection of American Sheet Music, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

This collection contains duplicates of materials in the Smithsonian collection, as well as materials acquired by Mr. DeVincent after the donation to the Smithsonian. The phonograph records described above were transferred to the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
label: Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
content: Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Sheet Music and Reference Material, 1843-2010 (AC1211)
label: Forms Part Of
content: Series 19: Art and Literature forms part of the 
               
                    Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music
               .

An ongoing, updated list of DeVincent topical series is available via the Smithsonian finding aid portal.