MASON book, aka the Cherokee Singing Book
1846
Shaped notes
Translation of the instructional text was done by Rev. Stephen Foreman.
Samuel Worcester used Mason's Choir and the Manual of the Boston Academy to write the "elements section." This redacted version was then translated into the Cherokee language.
It was a condensed version of Mason's work (and heavily paraphrased) and of course Mason himself was not the original author but he also had previously translated this information from the German language as it was written by G. F. Kubler.
The CHEROKEE BIBLE PROJECT was loaned a copy of this book and but hopes for a permanent donation so that we can begin loading images from it but for now, we will post the syllabary version for you to enjoy.
Lowell Mason published "THE CHEROKEE SINGING BOOK" in 1846
There was only first (1st) edition printed, of a supposed 1000 copies or so in the run, and therefore any surviving copies are extremely expensive.
It can be seen at the Newberry Library and also at Gilcrease Institute in Tulsa Oklahoma. That material is owned by a descendant of Rev. A. N. Chamberlin.
The Cherokee Singing Book The Cherokee Singing Book ... Boston: ABCFM, 1846. This song book is written in the Cherokee (Tsalagi) syllabary, developed by Sequoyah (ca. 1770- ca. 1840) around 1815.
The Sacred Harp is a shape-note tunebook first published in 1844 in Hamilton, Georgia, and used for congregational singing. Its roots lie in the singing school movement begun in New England during the 1720s, in which singing masters compiled books of music instruction designed to teach note reading for singing in churches. The Sacred Harp uses the shape note system introduced in Little and Smith's The Easy Instructor around 1800.
Barrett Ashley leads the group in The Sacred Harp includes many songs from a common repertory shared by other tunebooks of its era, supplemented by songs composed or arranged by singers from the book's own tradition. Its prevailing musical style, which accounts for its signature fugues and anthems, was crafted by America's first composers during the so-called "golden age" of the New England singing schools. To these were added campmeeting songs, with their familiar refrains, as well as strophic hymns and secular songs.
The book is representative of a time when tunes and texts were not inextricably linked as they are today. Hymn texts at that time were commonly sung to any of a number of tunes. Thus "tunebooks"-so named because they included printed tunes-used the names of the tune as the title and might include several tunes for a single text. The text "Amazing Grace," for example, appears under more than one tune, one of which is the familiar "New Britain." Most of the texts are taken from the celebrated canon of eighteenth century English-language religious poetry; others are from nineteenth century campmeeting songsters or are traditional folk hymns.
The Cherokee Singing Book
Description: Collection of psalms and hymns in Cherokee characters with music for 4 voices.
Creator: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
Language: Cherokee
Date Published: 1846.
Publisher: printed for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions by Alonzo P. Kenrick,
we cannot load the source we borrowed, but you can view other SOURCES for this at
Cornell (outside our website)
http://nac.library.cornell.edu/exhibition/writtenword/writtenword_4.html
Yale (outside our website)
https://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3817845
Independent Archive (Outside our website)