Book Description
American Indians as Depicted on Song Sheet Covers Since 1833
April 2024
Frank D. Tinari (author)
Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, NM (publisher)
ISBN-10 : 1632933861
Hardcover, paperback, e-editions, wherever books are sold
Bridging the genres of music, art illustration, collectible song sheets, Native American history and American West popular culture, this book is definitive in its scope and coverage. It is the first comprehensive guide to American Indian images featured on over 700 colorful song sheet covers. Its preface discusses the art and history of sheet music publishing and gives due recognition to earlier authors and books in the field. The introduction addresses the American public’s views of
American Indians and the extent to which those views were reflected in popular illustrated sheet music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book presents song sheets in their historical context, incorporating insights of experts on American Indians and sheet music. Many of the song sheet descriptions include commentaries touching on history, American culture and popular illustration. As such, the book will be of interest to sheet music collectors, scholars of Native Americans, art historians, students of the American West, those with interests in cultural history, musicologists, and fans of illustrative art. Always engaging, informative and clearly presented, readers will find the book a delight to read.
A brief book trailer is found at https://youtu.be/ae3im0uzc3M
Reviews
“This is a great resource to allow students, scholars, and enthusiasts to examine depictions, stereotypes, and attitudes towards American Indians. The songs are well contextualized within the broader scope of popular culture and sheet music production, and the book is well organized around chronologic and thematic elements.”
Sam Bessen, Eleanor and Lester Levy Family Curator of Sheet Music and Popular Culture, Special Collections, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University.
“Music and art about the American West are witnesses to the evolving popular perception of the American Indian. A particularly valuable but often overlooked resource in this regard is the vast amount of illustrated sheet music which featured American Indian themes and characters. Frank Tinari has assembled these sheet music covers into the first exhaustive and easily accessible catalog, drawing from his own extensive collection, and other public and private sources.”
S. Mark Clardy, docent and blog series author, “The Soundtrack of the American West,” Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
About the Author
Frank Tinari is Professor Emeritus of Economics, Seton Hall University, with dozens of articles published in peer-reviewed journals as well as in the popular press. His most recent book, Forensic Economics, to which he contributed five chapters and edited the others, was published by Macmillan in 2016. He is a long-time sheet music collector and hobbyist.
Illustrated Song Sheets 