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Minckler Collection of Silent Movie Sheet Music

 Collection
Identifier: MsC0911

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Scope and Contents

Minckler left this collection of music to the Appanoose County Historical Society. Eventually that organization judged it out of scope and, after evaluation by Rick Altman, it was acquired in 2010 by the University. The collection consists of an estimated 3000 scores, existing music (not original compositions) presumably used by Minckler as music director at the Majestic Theatre in Centerville, Appanoose County, Iowa. Most are numbered, suggesting they might once have been coded to a card or other catalog, but a thorough search at the Appanoose Historical Society failed to discover anything that might be even a fragment of such a finding aid. Many of the scores are marked to indicate selected or deleted passages, and there seem to be notes on many that might link them to movies for which they were used. Some are also marked with the time signature, key they are in, and another number which might be the length of time they take to play. Some are also marked with the emotion or idea they are intended to provoke, such as indifference, spritely, mother, and so forth. A good portion of the scores are not marked, however, and do not have Minckler Library stamp or number. Where the number is present, it appears in the citation immediately after the title, and before the date of the piece.

Dates

  • Creation: 1890-1929

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

This collection is housed at an off-site location, please allow two-three business days for retrieval.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Extent

25.50 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Sheet music, probably used by a pianist for silent movies.

Method of Acquisition

Donated to the University by the Appanoose Historical Society in 2010.

Materials Specific Details

There are two set of numbers that come after many of the titles in this collection. The first number is the Minckler collection number, the second number is the date of publication. Note that not all sheet music had a Minckler collection number. There are also many sheet music pieces that had multiple songs within the booklet, those have been added under the main song.

Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the University of Iowa Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5921
319-335-5900 (Fax)