Union Harmony by Humbert, Stephen - 1831

Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada: Stephen Humbert. Good with no dust jacket; Boards worn, rear board bent in half . longitudinally, pp.109-110 missing half of text, rear free endpaper . missing half, pages toned, several worm holes to front pastedown.. 1831. Hardcover. Title continued: Or, British America's Sacred Vocal Musick. From Approved English and American Authors to Which is Prefixed a Concise Introduction, Third Edition, Abridged, Saint John, (New Brunswick) : Published by Stephen Humbert, and sold by him at his residence next to Trinity Church: Also by Blakeslee & Estey, Principal Agents, North Market Wharf, 1831. James Loring, Printer, Boston, Mass." Brown ruled leather binding. [1-5]. 6-168 pp. Errata slip bound in before rear free endpaper. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that the 1801 first edition of this compilation of hymns and other tunes was Canada's first published English language book of music. It contains an alphabetical index and seven pages of introductory music theory and sight reading instruction. Humbert includes several of his original tunes, including Sussex Vale, Hail to the Day Spring, St. John, Mount Vernon, and Request, and those of other composers, such as Belknap, Meservey, Nolten, and many others. Stephen Humbert was a New Jersey Loyalist who emigrated to Canada after the Revolutionary War and established a singing school in his adopted town of Saint John, New Brunswick. He was an entrepreneur, elected official, and Methodist minister, and published the first edition of Union Harmony in 1801. This third edition of Humbert's book is an abridged version of the originally 300+ page first and second editions. ; Oblong 8vo 8" to 9" tall .