America's instrument : the banjo in the nineteenth century

America's instrument : the banjo in the nineteenth century / Philip F. Gura & James F. Bollman.

Author/creator	Gura, Philip F., 1950-
Other author/creator	Bollman, James F.
Format	Book and Print
Publication Info	Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, ©1999.
Description	xvi, 303 pages, 80 pages of plates : illustrations (some color), music ; 29 cm
Subject(s)	Banjo--United States --History --19th century.

Contents	From the plantation to the stage: bringing the banjo to market -- An expanding market: the Dobson Brothers and the rise of banjo culture -- Selling the banjo to all America: Philadelphia's S.S. Stewart -- Manufacturing the real thing: Fairbanks, Cole, and the golden age of Boston banjo making.
Abstract	This illustrated history traces the transformation of the banjo from primitive folk instrument to sophisticated musical machine and, in the process, offers a unique view of the music business in nineteenth-century America. The authors chart the evolution of "America's instrument," the five-stringed banjo, from its origins in the gourd instruments of enslaved Africans brought to the New World in the seventeenth century through its rise to the very pinnacle of American popular culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout, they look at how banjo craftsmen and manufacturers developed, built, and marketed their products to an American public immersed in the production and consumption of popular music. With over 250 illustrations--including rare period photographs, minstrel broadsides, sheet music covers, and banjo tutors and tune books--America's Instrument brings to life a fascinating aspect of American cultural history.
Local note	Little-320494--305131021082Q
Bibliography note	Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-295) and index.
LCCN	98046164
ISBN	0807824844 (cloth : alk. paper)

Library	Location	Call Number	Status	Item Actions
Music	Music Stacks	ML1015.B3 G87 1999	✔ Available	Place Hold