Young Eph’s Lament Song Sheet, ca. 1850-1899

Repository:

Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University

Creator:

Magnus, Charles, 1826-1900

Title:

"Young Eph's Lament" Song Sheet

Collection No.:

SC 0055

Date:

ca. 1850-1899

Extent:

1 letter folder, .06 Cubic Feet

Language of the Material:

English

Abstract:

The "Young Eph's Lament" Song Sheet, ca. 1850-1899, is a 5 x 8 inch hand-colored lithograph song sheet featuring four stanzas in stereotypical black dialect.

Charles Magnus (1826-1900) worked in New York City from 1850 to 1899 as a print publisher, map dealer, book seller, and stationer. He issued over one thousand unique letter sheets, maps, song sheets, envelopes, and prints.

The "Young Eph's Lament" Song Sheet, ca. 1850-1899, is a 5 x 8 inch hand-colored lithograph song sheet featuring four stanzas in stereotypical black dialect. The song sheet includes a hand-colored lithograph of a Union soldier conversing with an African American who is carrying a walking stick. A palmetto tree is in the background. The "Lament" is comprised of four stanzas and begins, "Oh, where will I go if dis war breaks de country up, and de dar-keys hab to scat-ter a-round…" Per the seller's description, the song sheet was "intended for the northerner craving peace but not necessarily abolition."

The song sheet is housed in one letter folder.

"Charles Magnus Collection, ca. 1850-1890." Finding aid at the Winterthur Library, Winterthur, De. Accessed February 22, 2017. http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0123.htm.