Johnson, J. Rosamond. (1873 - 1954) & Cole, Bob. (1868 - 1911)
Signed Photograph with Musical Quotations to the Publisher Edward B. Marks
A rare and splendid platinum photograph of the Johnson brothers and Bob Cole, inscribed to Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Marks, music publisher, on May 21, 1904. In the margins are six manuscript musical notations from songs by Johnson and Cole, signatures of J. Rosamund Johnson and Bob Cole, and also the signature of the New York photographer Cornelius Marion Battey, who took the photograph. 11 x 14 inches, affixed to a larger old mat, nearly 14 x 18 overall. Two repaired tears on left side, some acid stains at the margins, else fine. Provenance: from a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Marks.The Bahamian-American composer and singer J. Rosamond Johnson was an important figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Trained at New England Conservatory and then in London, he then traveled to New York and began his show business career along with his brother James Weldon Johnson, and Bob Cole. As a songwriting team, they produced over 200 songs including a suite of six songs of "Negro" music, and wrote works such as The Evolution of Ragtime (1903), produced two successful Broadway operettas with casts of black actors as well as several "white" musicals. Johnson was also an important editor of volumes of early African American Spiritual collections, but is perhaps best remembered presently as the composer of the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which has come to be known in the United States as the "Black National Anthem."
In collaboration with Billy Johson, the American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director Bob Cole wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown (1898), the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. Very successful especially through his collaborations with Rosamond Johnson, Cole suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1911 after a nervous breakdown.
The Edward B. Marks Music Company was founded in 1894 with his partner Joseph W. Stern. Originally called Joseph W. Stern & Co., The Stern company published songs and compositions by a veritabel 'Who's Who' of the most important African American composers from the pre-Jazz era, including J. Rosamond & James Weldon Johnson, Bob Cole, James Reese Euroipe, Ford Dabney, Lucky Roberts, Chris Smith, Bert Williams, Eubie Blake and Scott Joplin. The pioneering Tin Pan Alley music publisher went on to have hits through the 1930s and 1940s, including “The Peanut Vendor” and Billie Holiday’s classic 1939 hit “Strange Fruit.”
The New York photographer Cornelius Marion Battey photographed such prominent figures as W.E.B. Du Bois, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and Paul Laurence Dunbar. (11580)
Signed Photograph Song