1860-Dated Civil War Era I WISH I WAS IN DIXIE LAND Sheet Music

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Jan 23, 2021

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• Lot Description
  Civil War Publications
  1860 "I WISH I WAS IN DIXIE'S LAND..." Sheet Music
  1860-Dated, Printed Sheet Music, "I WISH I WAS IN DIXIE'S LAND / Written and Composed Expressly for Bryant's Minstrels By Dan. D. Emmett and W.L. Hobbs. New Orleans," Very Fine.
  This original Civil War Era Printed Sheet Music was entered by Congress in 1860 as printed at the bottom of the front page. It measures about 13.25" x 10", with 6 pages, disbound and has the complete lyrics and music score to this most famous and historic song. The song "Dixie Land" was written by Daniel Decatur Emmett and was first performed at Bryant's Minstrels at 444 Broadway, New York City, on April 4, 1859. Emmett had included the name "Dixie" in his song "Jonny Roach" a little earlier in that same year. "Dixie" came to mean the "South," and the song was played often by the Confederacy throughout the American Civil War (1861-1865).
  
  The origin of "Dixie" is disputed, but new evidence (first found in 2007) appears to provide an answer. The Mason-Dixon line divided north and south in the 1760s. In the early 1800s, New York City children played a game of "tag" on city streets. The game was called "Dixie" and involved a line of demarcation. This street game is described in the 1844, 1861, and 1872 citations below. Other theories for the origin of "Dixie" are not accepted by lexicogaphers. Banks in Louisiana did issue "dix" (French for "ten") dollar notes, but these notes were not widely used or even called "dixies." The Lousiana notes were not used in New York City, where the word "dixie" is first recorded. A published explanation in 1861 stated that there was an old slaveholder in Manhattan named Dixie or Dixey or Dixy, but there do not appear to be records of such a person in the New York directories. This original Sheet Music is a lightly used, having some scattered spotting edge splits and tears, yet with no major detractions.
  Daniel Decatur "Dan" Emmett (October 29, 1815 - June 28, 1904), was an American songwriter and entertainer. Dan Emmett is traditionally credited with writing the famous song "Dixie". The story that he related about its composition varied each time he told it, but the main points were that he composed the song in New York City while a member of Bryant's Minstrels.
  
  This song was first performed by Emmett and the Bryants at Mechanics' Hall in New York City on April 4, 1859. The song became a runaway hit, especially in the South, and the piece for which Emmett was most well known. Emmett himself reportedly told a fellow minstrel that "If I had known to what use they (Southerners) were going to put my song, I will be damned if I'd have written it."
  
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