The American Songbag by Sandburg, Carl; [American Folk Music] - 1927

New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company [1927], 1927. First edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Good or better. 4to. i-xxiii, [1], 1-495, [1] pp. Black cloth with orange lettering and a portrait of Sandburg in orange on the front board, orange lettering on the spine; all edges in orange. The four corners of the dust jacket have been clipped by the publisher. Jacket's design done by Beth Krebs Morris. The dust jacket depicts several of the groups from whom the songs are collected, including sailors, lumberjacks, cowboys, soldiers, emigrants, and Black Americans. The jacket's artwork does make use of the "minstrel" caricature. Illustrated with a few in-text designs and with the music to the songs. Heise 19. A collection of nearly 300 folk songs gathered from various ethnic groups who resided in the United States in the nineteenth century and beyond. According to Heise, the music critic at the Chicago Tribune wrote that it is "[q]uite the most complete and most interesting collection of American songs". Sandburg's volume is reminiscent of the Lomax duo's work, collecting important pieces of American music history. In his preface the author claims that around 100 of these songs had not been previously published. The book represents a wide-ranging part of American history: folk songs tell us legends of exceptional people and their deeds, and often these songs provide insight into how different peoples saw themselves and their own lived experiences, or how outside groups viewed them. This book is difficult to find with its dust jacket, and our copy is a sharp example. Jacket with a few small chips, a notable tear and chip to its spine panel.