Peter McGivney manuscript poetry and song lyrics album, [ca. 1870s?]

Summary

Creator:

McGivney, Peter

Abstract:

This volume was produced by Peter McGivney as a gift for his sister, Julia A. McGivney. Its entries are largely copies of popular song lyrics and some poetry. Many focus on sentimental themes like remembrance, familial relationships, love, death, and religion. A few patriotic titles were included. Peter McGivney elaborately decorated and illustrated the volume with paintings, pencil drawings, pen-and-ink embellishments, printed scrapbook die-cuts, and calligraphic titles and borders. He drew numerous patriotic images, including American flags, shields, eagles, Union soldiers, and a portrait of George Washington. Flowers, leaves, birds, and landscapes feature prominently, along with depictions of women. He drew several illustrations of hands holding calling/visiting cards filled out with the names of friends and family members. One watercolor illustration of an African American man accompanies the lyrics of a minstrel song.

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Jayne Ptolemy, August 2022

Background

Scope and Content:

This volume was produced by Peter McGivney as a gift for his sister, Julia A. McGivney. Its entries are primarily copies of popular song lyrics and some poetry. Many focus on sentimental themes like remembrance, familial relationships, love, death, and religion. Some patriotic titles are also included. Titles like "Little Low Cabin" and "Half Way Doings" were likely minstrel songs, and include racist dialect. One is accompanied by a watercolor painting of an African American man in striped pants and a blue overcoat standing at a table with a Bible on it and a whitewash bucket on the floor.

Peter McGivney elaborately decorated and illustrated the volume with paintings, pencil drawings, pen-and-ink embellishments, printed scrapbook die-cuts, and calligraphic titles and borders. He drew numerous patriotic images, including American flags, shields, eagles, Union soldiers, and a portrait of George Washington. Flowers, leaves, birds, and landscapes feature prominently, along with depictions of women. He drew several illustrations of hands holding calling/visiting cards filled out with the names of friends and family members.

Attributable poetry and song titles include, among many others:

• "The Lady’s Yes," by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• "Write Me a Letter [from] Home," by Will S. Hays
• "[Darling] Minnie Lee," by Dexter Smith
• "Ella Ree," by Charles E. Stewart
• "God Bless My Boy at Sea," by T. Brigham Bishop
• "Little Robin, Tell Kitty," by Frank Howard
• "Killarney," by E. Falconer
• "Sunny Days," by Edwin Ransford
• "Remember Me," by M. W. Balfe
• "We Parted by the River Side," by Will S. Hays
• "The Last Rose of Summer," by Thomas Moore
• "Lottie Lee," by C. T. Lockwood
• "Kiss the Little Ones," by W. F. Wellman, Jr.
• "Kiss Me Mother E'er I Die," by W. Dexter Smith, Jr.
• "To a Beloved Woman," translated from Sappho
• "Driven from Home," by Will S. Hays
• "Bessy O'er the Lea" [e.g. "Darling Bessie of the Lea"], by George Cooper
• "Our Own," by Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
• "[When] The Corn is Waving, Annie Dear," by Charles Blamphin
• "A Woman's Question," by Adelaide Anne Proctor
• "Daisy O'Lynn," by M. H. McChesney
• "I'll Remember You Love in my Prayers," by Will S. Hayes
• "Don't be Angry With Me, Darling," by W. L. Gardner
• "The Good Bye at the Door," by J. E. Carpenter
• "Love On," by Eliza Cook
• "Sweet Genevieve," by George Cooper
• "When the [Autumn] Leaves are Falling," by J. E. Carpenter
• "Mother, Is the Old Home Lonely," by Arthur W. French
• "The Golden Side," by Mary Ann Kidder
• "Wait Till the Moonlight Falls on the Water," by Sam Bagnall
• "The Bells of Shadow" [e.g. "The Shandon Bells"], by Francis Mahony
• "Annie of the Vale," by G. P. Morris
• "My Pretty Jane," by Edward Fitzball
• "Silver Threads among the Gold," by Eben E. Rexford
• "When I Saw Sweet Nellie Home," by John Fletcher
• "Come Like a Beautiful Dream," by George Cooper
• "What Will I Do Without Thee," by Elmer Ruan Coates
• "Star of the Evening," by James M. Sayles
• "The Good Bye at the Door," by J. E. Carpenter
• "Memory Bells," by Henry Tucker
• "I Love the Merry Sunshine," by J. W. Lake
• "Every Home has Lost a Darling," by George Cooper
• "Wilt thou say Farewell Love," by Thomas Moore
• "A Sweet Face at the Window," by W. C. Baker
• "Faded Flowers," by I. H. Brown
• "The Blind Girl," by Joshua Swan
• "What Will I Do Without Thee," by Elmer Ruan Coates
• "Why Was I Looking Out," by Claribel
• "God Save the Flag," by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Images with titles include:

• "Fair Maid of Perth"
• "Arabella Dolora"
• "A little Puss"
• "Rebecca at the Well"
• "E Pluribus Unum"
• "Excelsior"
• "The French Iron Clad Solferino"
• "Volcano of Turrialba (Mexico)."
• "View of Paknam on the Memam. Farther - India"
• "The Rose of Orleans"
• "The Queen of Flowers"
• "Marriot's Aerial Steam Carriage. 'Avitor.'"
• "Love in Winter"
• "Dressing for the Masquerade"
• "William Penn first Settler of Pennsylvania 1675"
• "The Tambourine Player"
• "Love in Summer"

Biographical / Historical:

No biographical information is currently available.

Acquisition Information:

2022. M-7564.1 .

Arrangement:

The collection is a single bound volume.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Love--Poetry.
Love songs--United States.
Minstrel music.
Poetry, Modern--19th century.
Popular music--United States--19th century.
Songs, American--Texts--19th century.
Airships.
African American men.
Angels.
Birds.
Church buildings.
Eagles.
Flags--United States.
Flowers.
Mausoleums.
Ships.
Visiting cards.
Women.

Formats:

Albums (books)
Calligraphy (visual works)
Pencil drawings.
Poems.
Poetry.
Songs (musical compositions)
Verse albums.
Watercolors (paintings)

Names:

Penn, William, 1644-1718.
Rebekah (Biblical matriarch)
Washington, George, 1732-1799.
Bagnall, Sam (Samuel), 1836-1885.
Balfe, M. W. (Michael William), 1808-1870.
Baker, W. C.
Bishop, T. Brigham (Thomas Brigham), 1835-1905.
Blamphin, Charles, -1895.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861.
Carpenter, J. E. (Joseph Edwards), 1813-1885.
Claribel, 1830-1869.
Coates, Elmer Ruan, 1831-1889.
Cook, Eliza, 1818-1889.
Cooper, George, 1840-1927.
Falconer, Edmund, 1814-1879.
Fitzball, Edward, 1792-1873.
Fletcher, John.
French, Arthur W.
Gardner, W. L.
Hays, Will. S. (William Shakespeare), 1837-1907.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
Howard, Frank, 1833-1884.
Kidder, M. A. (Mary Ann), 1820-1905.
Lake, J. W.
Lockwood, C. T.
Mahony, Francis Sylvester, 1804-1866.
Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852.
Morris, George Pope, 1802-1864.
Procter, Adelaide Anne, 1825-1864.
Ransford, Edwin, 1805-1876.
Rexford, Eben E. (Eben Eugene), 1848-1916.
Sangster, Margaret E. (Margaret Elizabeth), 1838-1912.
Sappho.
Sayles, James M. (James Mason), 1837-.
Smith, Dexter, 1842?-1909.
Tucker, Henry, 1826?-1882.
Wellman, W. F., Jr.