Elite Syncopations

St. Louis: John Stark & Son, 1902. Large-format folio sheet music for piano solo. Trimmed to 9¼ x 12 inches. Light edge wear with small chips to lower corner (approx. ¼ inch), else very good; a bright and attractive example. Very good.. First edition of one of Scott Joplin’s classic ragtime compositions, issued during his most productive period with the St. Louis publisher John Stark. Joplin (1868–1917), widely known as the “King of Ragtime,” helped establish ragtime as a sophisticated form of American popular music through works such as “Maple Leaf Rag,” “The Entertainer,” and “Elite Syncopations.” As Joplin himself insisted when defending the genre from critics, “Syncopations are no indication of light or trashy music,” a remark reflecting his ambition to elevate ragtime compositions such as this into carefully structured piano works. The pictorial cover, engraved by Fred Graf of St. Louis, shows a fashionable couple seated upon a musical staff while a cherub below plays the cymbals.