Mammoth musical exercises...

1856. AMERICAN MUSIC. Mammoth Musical Exercises: or, Musical Diagrams for the Singing Class, Designed to save Teachers much Labor at the Blackboard. By Lowell Mason. 60 ff. of printed music. Elephant folio, 615 x 515 mm., bound in contemporary American marbled boards with new brown calf spine and corners. New York: Mason Brothers, 1856. Grand-scale printing of this exceedingly rare American musical specimen. This nineteenth-century American musical printing was issued by the man known as the "father of American music" and the "father of American church music." His most famous composition is probably "Nearer My God, to Thee." Lowell Mason (1792-1872) instituted a program for music education in Boston public schools, which was widely copied around the country. His other great accomplishment was transforming American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music. This massive tome, published by his sons, was intended to be used in school classrooms. It was printed in a grand scale so that it could be seen from a distance. The size, and the fact that it was heavily used, has resulted in very few surviving copies. The upper outer corner of the margins is missing a small piece, but the overall condition is exceptional for this type of fragile publication.