Including "No. 1 Lucy Neal" of "The Celebrated Negro Songs sung by the Ethiopian Serenaders" etc.

London: [c.1850].. Folio (35 x 24 cm). 160 leaves (each numbered by hand to top left of verso). A collection of 44 songs* (most with separate title-page) bound together in a contemporary binding of half maroon morocco over marbled boards, ownership label to upper cover, the spine ruled and decorated in gilt, decorative patterned endpapers. With a leaf of manuscript index bound in at front. 6 lithographic title-vignettes. Ex libris John Webb, his ownership label to upper cover and initials appearing throughout. Extremities rubbed, some occasional toning and spotting, generally a very good, sound collection of Victorian songs. The Ethiopian Serenaders was an American blackface minstrel troupe successful in the 1840s and 1850s. Through various line-ups they were managed and directed by James A. Dumbolton (c.1808�?), and are sometimes mentioned as the Boston Minstrels, Dumbolton Company or Dumbolton's Serenaders. In late 1845, with line-up changes but retaining Germon and Stanwood, the Serenaders left for a tour in England (and possibly Ireland). An advertisement in The Times referred to their first concert, to be held at the Hanover Square Rooms on 21 January 1846. The performers were Francis Carr Germon, Moody G. Stanwood, Gilbert Pelham (or Pell; the younger brother of Dick Pelham, with whom he had previously performed), George Alfred Harrington, and George Warren White. Pelham played bones and was the lead clown; Harrington (bass) and White (baritone) sang and played banjo, a newly introduced instrument at the time; Stanwood (tenor) played accordion; and Germon (alto) played tambourine and sang comic ballads.[9] Their songs included "Buffalo Gals", "Lucy Neal", and "Old Dan Tucker". For most of 1846, they performed regularly at the St James's Theatre in London. They played in taverns and theatres, as well as private concerts for the aristocracy; they appeared before the Duke of Devonshire, and by special command played before Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington at Arundel Castle. Music hall historian Harold Scott wrote of them: "They charmed principally by their gentility, and this impression was heightened by the fact that they appeared in conventional tail coats and white waistcoats." The Era reported that "their songs are of a melodious and artistic nature. Several of the company possess quite good voices, and the comedians manage to get the utmost fun out of their business, without resorting to vulgarity in any form". In England, they were frequently mistaken for real black men, a misconception they always denied, asserting that they had not the "least drop of black blood in their veins"; accordingly, "they lost no time in published portraits of themselves with the white faces bestowed upon them by nature." The troupe's performances represented "the high point of minstrelsy's success in early Victorian Britain". However, in their absence abroad, rivals such as the Christy Minstrels gained a following in the United States. Upon their return from England in 1847, the Spirit of the Times wrote that the Serenaders' formal style in music and dress was too refined for audiences accustomed to the ribald humour of the Christys. Of a Serenaders' performance, the article said, ". . . we listen and are pleased but leave with little desire to return." At Christys, "we listen and laugh and desire to go again and again." * 1. "I'm Afloat, I'm Afloat". 2. "O Give to me Those Early Flowers". 3. "The Fountain and the Flower". 4. "Faith, I Must be in Love! An Irish Song". 5. "Here's to Woman, an Admired Convivial Song". 6. "Mother, He's Going Away, A Characteristic Irish Ballad". 7. "The Eternal Polka, Buffa Song". 8. "The Celebrated Negro Songs Sung by The Ethiopian Serenaders / No. 1 Lucy Neal". 9. "The Birth of St. Patrick". 10. "The Widow Malone, A Favourite Song". 11. "As I View These Scenes So Charming". 12. "I am a Friar of the Orders Gray". 13 "Some Love to Roam". 14. "Rule Britannia". 15. "Come Oer the Moonlit Sea" 16. What are the Wild Waves Saying...respectfully inscribed to Charles Dickens Esq.". 17. "List! Dearest List!" 18. "Moonlight, Music, Love & Flowers". 19. "Love & War". 20. "The Minute Gun at Sea". 21. "See Our Oars with Feathered Spray, Celebrated Boat-Glee". 22. "Turn On, Old Time, Thine Hour-Glass". 23. "Oh Bold Robin Hood". 24. "The Red Cross Knight". 25. "Care, thou Canker". 26. The Bells of St. Michael's Tower, A Favourite Glee". 27. "Here's a Health to All Good Lasses". 28. "Drink to me only with thine Eyes". 29. "God Save the Queen...With New Accompaniments, and Words adapted to the present Reign". 30. "Non Nobis, Domine". 31. "Hark, the Lark". 32. "The Laughing Catch". 33. "La Poste Quadrille". 34. "Impressions de Voyage". 35. "Les Papillons, A Fourth Set of Original Quadrilles". 36. Les Deux Soeurs, A First Set of Original Quadrilles". 37. "The Holiday Quadrilles". 38. "No. 1 / The Three Sisters, Twelve Rondinos". 39. "No. 2 / The Three Sisters. Twelve Rondinos". 40. Vive Tu Te Ne Scongiuro". 41. "Dio Di Guida". 42. "The English Quadrille". 43. "Norma Quadrille". 44. "The Original Polka".