EARLY AMERICAN MUSIC – Yankee Doodle. An Original American Air. Arranged with Variations for the Piano Forte. New York and Boston: sold by J. Carr, [1796].

Earliest known printed sheet music of the classic ditty Yankee Doodle—"second only to 'Dixie' in Patriotic popularity" (Sonneck). Like many folk songs, the exact origins of the tune are lost to time and shrouded in pseudo-history; nonetheless the words of Yankee Doodle as developed in the 18th-century became inextricably associated with the vitality and good-humor of the American spirit during the Revolutionary War. There are many variations of the lyrics, but this printed score, advertised for sale by J. Carr in the August 1796 Federal Gazette, includes only music. Oscar Sonneck, Report on The Star Spangled Banner, Hail Columbia, America, Yankee Doodle [Library of Congress Music Division], pp. 79-156.

Two loose folios, engraved front and back (platemark: 280 x208mm; sheet: 338 x 240mm). (Lightly toned at edges.) Modern chemise and slipcase.