Kentucky Sheet Music

Louisville Music Publications of the 19th Century

Music publishing flourished in Louisville in the mid-nineteenth century. Our collection of Louisville imprints is unique and certainly one of the most important treasures in the library. Most of this collection is contained in nearly two hundred bound volumes, principally the gift of Hattie Bishop Speed. The collection contains some 1,500 titles

Marion Korda has cataloged and indexed the 1,500 titles in this collection and her catalog Louisville Music Publications of the 19th century. This catalog is available online and in print (Ref. ML 136 .L69K6 1991). Miss Korda has written an essay on the history of music publishing in Louisville, Salut à Louisville, which is included as introductory essay in the printed catalog.

Songs about Kentucky

The Music Library has a small collection of popular songs on the topic of Kentucky. A complete listing of the 76 titles is available online.