[Women] [Civil War] [DAR] [Poetry] [Sheet Music] Postbellum Archive of Author and DAR Leader Malvina Sarah Waring, circa 1868-1870

1870. [Women] [Civil War] [DAR] [Poetry] [Sheet Music] Postbellum Archive of Author and DAR Leader Malvina Sarah Waring, circa 1868-1870

This archive contains the manuscript of a poem by author and DAR leader Malvina Waring, along with her collection of six rare music books.
Good to very good condition.

Malvina Sarah Black Waring (1842-1930) was born and died in South Carolina. She graduated from Limestone College in Gaffney, SC in 1859, and wrote romance novels including "One Old Reb" (State Company, 1929), "That Sandhiller" (Neale Pub. Co., 1904) and "The Lion's Share" (Belford, Clarke and Co., 1888). Malvina helped organize the first chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the state and served as its vice president-general for two years, as well as on various committees. She was a delegate to the Congress World's Fair Auxiliary of Representative Women and worked with the Columbia Hospital Association, Art League and Public Library Association. One source also deemed her "Lady Manager" of the Chicago and Charleston Expositions. In 1863 she was made a war widow of Major William M. Gist; she was then wedded Columbia contractor Clark Waring from 1867 until his death in 1913. The inscription on her gravestone reads "A Gifted Woman with a Heart of Gold."

On offer here is the manuscript for a poem, "An Old Score," signed at the conclusion by "Mrs. Clark Waring." The poem recounts love lost during the Civil War, a subject obviously close to Malvina's heart: "This is the spot, and this the hour; / You just sat there, and I loung'd here. / Your breath, like breathings of a flower / Touch'd me, so near." Five pp., 10" x 8", title leaf trimmed to 8.5" x 8". Lightly creased at old folds with some scattered spotting and a few small stains, still about very good. We find no record this poem was published.

Also present are first editions of six music books from "Hitchcock's Half Dime Series of Music for the Million," described on each cover as "Popular Music at Popular Prices." The books measure about 10.5" x 6.75", each has Waring's signature to upper corner, and two with her handwritten notes. Moderately worn and soiled, two with a large chip to edge (one lightly affecting content), about good, with stamps for Fred Dauer, dealer in music and musical instruments of Charleston, SC.

The titles are:
No. 5, "Not For Joseph" by Arthur Lloyd, 1868
No. 6, "Good-bye, Sweetheart, Good-bye" by John L. Hatton, 1868
No. 49, "Le Sabre De Mon Pere" by Offenbach, 1869
No. 60, "Meet Me in the Lane, Love" by Charles Blamphin, 1869
No. 85, "Castles in the Air," words by James Ballantine, music by Robert Adams, 1869
No. 452, "The Little Drooping Flower" by Charles Blamphin, 1869

The music books are rare. OCLC locates only two holdings of No. 60 and one of No. 6. A Google search revealed that Brown University holds a small collection from the "Series," but titles were not specified.

Several institutions hold Waring's published works, and Duke University and the Charleston Library Society show holdings of an alumnae address she gave at her alma mater in 1900. The University of South Carolina holds a small collection of her manuscripts, though not for the poem on offer here, as well as a charter document, signed in 1931, authorizing the establishment of the Malvina Sarah Waring Chapter of the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution. OCLC also locates two of her works published by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, each with only one institutional holding.