Overview
Collection of printed sheet music written, composed, or sung by the Grossmith family.
Dates
- Creation: 1823-1909 and undated
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
.3 linear feet (1 box)Collection includes printed sheet music and sheet music covers that were written, composed, or sung by either George Grossmith (1847-1912) or his son George Grossmith (1874-1935). Many of the items are undated.
Biographical / Historical
George Grossmith (1847-1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer with a career that spanned four decades. He is well known for his creation of a series of characters in the comic operas of W.S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). Grossmith's son, George Grossmith (1874-1935), or George Grossmith, Jr., followed in his father's footsteps as an actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter. George Grossmith Jr. is well remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies, as well as being an innovator in bringing cabaret and revue to the London stage.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by title of sheet music.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Physical Location
pf
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2010MT-11. Gift of Thomas Garrett; received: 2010 October 9.
Forms part of the Fredric Woodbridge Wilson Collection of Theater, Dance and Music (Harvard Theatre Collection).
General note
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Alison Harris.
- Title
- Sheet music featuring the Grossmith family, 1823-1909: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02315
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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