University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The items in the Digital Collections of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library contain materials which represent or depict sensitive topics or were written from perspectives using outdated or biased language. The Library condemns discrimination and hatred on any grounds. As a research library that supports the mission and values of this land grant institution, it is incumbent upon the University Library to preserve, describe, and provide access to materials to accurately document our past, support learning about it, and effect change in the present. In accordance with the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read statement, we do not censor our materials or prevent patrons from accessing them.

If you have questions regarding this statement or any content in the Library’s digital collections, please contact digitalcollections@lists.illinois.edu

American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at the University Library
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Showing 1–3 of 3 collections
  • Illinois Songs
    Music and Performing Arts Library  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    The Illinois Songs collection features sheet music and songbooks related to the University of Illinois or the state of Illinois. All items are from the Music and Performing Arts Library’s collection.
  • Musica de la Theatro
    Music and Performing Arts Library  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    Musica de la Theatro was likely used by an instrumental ensemble in a British theatre in the second half of the 18th Century. It is a compilation of 68 works bound in 8 part books (violin 1, violin 2, viola, oboe 2, corno 1, corno 2, bassoon & violoncello, and basso continuo). It contains a variety of incidental music for the stage, as well as overtures and concerto movements by such composers as Handel, Arne, Purcell, Lampe, and others. Some pieces are in copyists' manuscripts, while others are early printed editions. Not all pieces use all 8 parts and at times parts for other instruments have been substituted in (e.g., oboe 2 for violin 2). This is not a complete set of parts for performance, as the oboe 1 part book is missing, and many of the works in the collection are concertos and arias without solo parts.
  • Music Binders Volumes
    Music and Performing Arts Library  ·   Digital Special Collections
    Description
    Binders volumes, sometimes also called Sammelbanden, collectors' volumes, bound-withs, or composite volumes, contain items that were created separately but later bound together. They may include only printed items or a mix of printed items and manuscripts. While collections and anthologies also contain multiple works, that was done by design at the time of creation, whereas binders volumes were created after the fact, typically by an owner or institution. In the 19th century, binders volumes of sheet music were often created by/for young women of a certain class, where amateur musicianship was seen as a favorable activity. Such volumes might contain information about the previous owner's identity, sometimes stamped on the cover or spine, or signed and dated inside the cover. However, their identities may remain lost to history once they married and took their husband's name. Sheet music contained in binders volumes can inform the interdisciplinary studies of music diaspora, musical life, cultural and societal shifts, and publishing and printing history. While the pieces within may be held by other institutions, volumes often contain rare or unique titles, and by their nature, each volume is unique. Famous examples include Jane Austen and her family https://archive.org/details/austenfamilymusicbooks and Emily Dickinson (Boziwick, George. Emily Dickinson’s Music Book and the Musical Life of an American Poet. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2022.; Literature and Languages Library PS1541.Z5 B556 2022).