Sheet Music

Duke has significant holdings in historic sheet music, which are held at the Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Library in Perkins Library on West Campus. The following online search tools provide more information about a small portion of the library's sheet music collections.

American Song Lyrics [online search]

These lyrics are selected from the sheet music collection in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library of Duke University. The bulk of the collection is from about 1830 to 1930 and was published in the United States. Bibliographic information about the works in the database may be found in the Sheet Music Index.

Historic American Sheet Music Project [catalog record] [project web site]

The Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University holds a significant collection of 19th and early 20th century American sheet music. The Historic American Sheet Music Project provides access to digital images of 3042 pieces from the collection, published in the United States between 1850 and 1920.

Sheet Music Index [online search]

When complete, this index will provide access to the approximately 20,000 uncataloged sheet music items in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library of Duke University. The bulk of the collection is from about 1830 to 1930 and includes material selected for the American Memory Project. Most, but not all, music was published in the United States but there are a significant number of English, German, and Viennese items as well. More Viennese publications from the Weinmann Collection may be found in the Duke Online Catalog. A sample of lyrics have been transcribed and are available in the American Song Lyrics database.

For more information about these collections, please contact the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library directly:

E-mail: special-collections@duke.edu
Phone: 919-660-5822
Also see Obtaining Reproductions