(Key, Francis Scott) | Second printing of the words and music to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompaned by songs of the Anacreontic Society, including "Anacreontic Song"

(Key, Francis Scott)

“Fort Mc. Henry, or, The Star Spangled Banner, Sung with great applause by Mr. Hardinge, at the Theatre Baltimore. Air, Anacreon in Heaven,” the four stanzas of Key’s poem printed on page 3 of “The Battle of the Wabash: A Patriotic Song, Written by Joseph Hutton, To the favourite Air of Anacreon in Heaven.” Philadelphia: Published by G.E. Blake, [after 9 October 1814]

3 engraved pages music and lyrics (330 x 240 mm) printed from three plates on the first three pages of a bifolium of heavy wove paper.

[Bound with:]

“The Anacreontic Song as Sung at the Crown & Anchor Tavern in the Strand, the Words by Ralph Tomlinson Esqr., late President of the Society. London: Printed by Longman and Broderip, ca. 1790, 3 engraved pages on a bifolium (Filby & Howard S2). — Caroline of Dartmouth, A Celebrated Song, the Melody Composed & Sung … At the Anacreontic Society. London: Printed for A. & P. Thompson, ca. 1790, 2 engraved pages on a bifolium. — The Neglected Tar, a Celebrated Song, adapted and sung by Mr. Dignum at the Anacreontic Society. London: Printed for A. & P. Thompson, ca. 1790, 3 engraved pages on a bifolium.

[And accompanied by:]

(John Stafford Smith). A Fifth Book of Canzonets, Catches, Canons & Glees, Sprightly and Plaintive. Printed for the Author and Sold at His House, [1799]

Oblong folio (244 x 344 mm). Engraved throughout. “At page 33 appear the words and music of ‘The Anacreontick Song,’ ‘harmonized by the Author.’ Whether John Stafford Smith composed the music has engendered much controversy, summarized in Sonneck [The Star Spangled Banner, Library of Congress, 1914], pages 52–61. Sonneck's conclusion that Smith was indeed the composer has been generally accepted. That conclusion rests largely on this book and the claim of authorship on its title-page” (Filby & Howard B10).

Together 5 engraved music publications; some scattered soiling, some repair to central folds of bifolia. Uniform modern buff boards, maroon morocco spine labels. Housed together in a red cloth slipcase.

Second printing of the words and music to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and evidently the only contemporary sheet-music printing to include the words to both Key’s poem and “Anacreon in Heaven,” the lyrics for which are interlined with, and appended to, “The Battle of the Wabash.”

The bibliography of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is complex and probably unsolvable, as a myriad of undated newspaper, broadside, and sheet music publications proliferated after its earliest appearances in Baltimore: the verses only in the 20 September issue of the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser, and as undated sheet music “Printed and Sold at Carr’s Music Store.”

Francis Scott Key's tense shipboard vigil during the British cannonade of Fort McHenry on the night of 13–14 September 1814, is the most indelible image from the War of 1812.  Key, a lawyer, had gone on board a British ship under a flag of truce so that he might secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, an American physician who was being held as a prisoner. However, Key was also detained so as to ensure that no military information related to the impending attack was passed to the Americans. While being kept aboard an enemy vessel, Key anxiously watched as the fort's flag remained visible through the hail of cannon and rocket-fire; a proud signal that the American defenses were holding under an immense British onslaught. When the guns at last fell silent, the smoke was so great that he was unable to see the flag any longer.

It wasn't until dawn broke that he was able to see that “our flag was still there.” Immediately inspired, Key wrote the first draft while still a British detainee, then completed it over the next few days. Broadside and newspaper printings of the anthem were abundant as the lines captured the nation's patriotic fervor (driven even higher with the recent burning of Washington). When Key's words were set to a popular drinking ballad, “The Anacreontic Song,” it became a sensation, and enterprising publisher's issued printings of the lyric and music together. Though widely circulated, few early printings seem have to survived: the Baltimore first edition is only known in eleven copies, and this early Philadelphia printing is also very scarce. The “Star-Spangled Banner” became America's national anthem on 3 March 1931.

A fine collection combining an early iteration of the national anthem of the United States with the English song, “Anacreontic Song,” whose melody Francis Scott Key adopted for his poem, “Defence of Fort McHenry,” and other songs of the Anacreontic Society.

REFERENCES

BAL 5:247; Dichter & Shapiro, Early American Sheet Music, p. 36; Filby & Howard, Star-Spangled Books S8; Fuld, World-Famous Music, p. 532 note; Levy & Fuld, “Unrecorded Early Printings of the Star Spangled Banner,” in Notes Vol. 27, No. 2 (December 1970):245–251; Muller, The Star Spangled Banner, pp. 52–57; Wolfe, Secular Music in America 8329A; cf. Lilly Library, American Patriotic Songs (1968)