Special Collections

Collection Details

Rare Books and Treatises, Published 1700-1900

270 linear feet

Rare Music Scores, Published 1602-1900

135 linear feet

19th Century American Tune-books

12 linear feet

Music Manuscripts, 1700-2000

90 linear feet

Americana Collection of Manuscript Scores, Orchestral Parts and First Editions

Includes collected works of the following composers:

Percy Atherton (1871-1944)
Edward Ballantine (1886-1971)
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
John Parsons Beach (1877-1953)
John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951)
George W. Chadwick (1854-1931)
Frederick Converse (1871-1940)
Silvio Coscia (1899-1977)
Mabel Wheeler Daniels (1878-1971)
Arthur Elson (1873-1940)
Louis C. Elson (1848-1920)
Arthur Foote (1853-1937)
George Foote (1886-1956) (includes oral history)
Wallace Goodrich (1871-1952)
Henry Hadley (1871-1937)
Edward Burlingame Hill (1872-1960)
Charles Loeffler (1861-1935)
Carl McKinley (1895-1966)
Horatio Parker (1863-1919)
J. C. D. Parker (1828-1916)
F. Addison Porter (1859-1941)
Thomas Ryan (1827-1903)
Robert Selig (1939-1984)
Arthur Shepherd (1880-1958)

Other Music Collections

Louis Alter (1902-1980)
Frank Barone
Solomon Braslavsky (1887-1975)
Johnny Burke (1908-1964)
Avram David (1930-2004)
Virginia Eskin Collection of Women’s Music
Norma Farber Collection of Vocal Music by 20th Century Composers
Geraldine Farrar
Barry Galbraith (1919-1983)
Elise Hall Collection of Saxophone Music by 20th Century Composers, which includes Claude Debussy’s Esquisse d’une “Rhapsodie mauresque”: pour orchestre et saxophone principal
Carl C. Howard (1907-2015)
Martha Drews Lob
Margaret Mason (1901-1971)
Toots Mondello (1911-1992) (unprocessed)
Adelaide and Mathilde Phillips
J. Howard Richardson (1848-1928)
Carol Baum Shisler Harp Collection (unprocessed)
Virginia Hendon Speed Condon Collection
Voice of Firestone Collection (Arrangements for Radio/TV Shows)
Vaughn Monroe Collection (Arrangements for Radio/TV Shows)

Correspondence and Papers

Concert Programs

Jordan Hall Program Scrapbooks, 1903-1964 (the vast majority are from 1904-1932)
Large collection of programs, mainly from performances given at Boston-area venues, including NEC concert halls, Apollo Club, Boston Music Hall, Boston Opera House, Handel and Haydn Society, Longy Club, MacDowell Club, The Choral Art Society of Boston, and Theodore Thomas Orchestra

Historic Audio/Visual Collections

Miscellaneous Special Collections