[American Classics] Payne, John Howard. (1791 - 1852)
"Home! Sweet Home!" - Autograph Manuscript and First Edition
"BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME"Autograph manuscript signed, "Home, Home! Sweet, Sweet Home!", 1 page (9 x 7 3/4 in.; 251 x 197 mm), Washington, 6 August 1850, to "my friend Miss Alice Stetson"; short split on one fold, two small edge tears, remnant of mounting adhesive on verso, faint dust-soiling. Together with the rare first separate publication and the first American printing of the sheet music. Philadelphia: George Bacon. [1823]. 3 pages; foxed at lower corners. And an engraved portrait of Payne. Mylar sleeves, blue morocco window mats in folding case, lettered in gilt. Cloth slipcase. From the Marshall B. Coyne collection.
John Howard Payne, who wrote the words for one of America's best-loved songs, penned the present fair copy for a lady friend. Along with his co-dramatist Washington Irving, Payne wrote or adapted several noteworthy plays for the New York and London stage, such as Charles the Second, or The Merry Monarch, 1824. The previous year Payne had adapted Clari, or The Maid of Milan into an opera for producer-actor Charles Kemble. The song "Home! Sweet Home!" with music by Henry Rowley Bishop, was written for this opera. Although Payne achieved artistic immortality for the song, he remained heavily in debt. In 1842 his friends in the theater were instrumental in having Payne named United States Consul at Tunis, a post to which he was once again named in 1851. He died during this diplomatic service. Thus, the creator of one of the most nostalgic American songs ever written died far from our shores. (7118)
Manuscript Music Song