Contact: Maridith Geuder
A calendar and note cards available from the MSU Libraries feature art from the Charles H. Templeton Sheet Music Collection.
Capturing a turn-of-the-century transition to the "modern" era, a new Mississippi State University calendar and note card set is drawing from a unique collection of antique sheet music.
Made available by Mitchell Memorial Library, the Charles H. Templeton Sheet Music Calendars and Note Cards replicate a variety of artwork represented in some of the more than 20,000 pieces of sheet music donated to the university by the late Starkville businessman.
The collection, which also contains some 200 musical instruments, collectively represents what Templeton called "the business of music"--the popularization of music that ranges from ragtime and blues to the ballads of Irving Berlin and a generation of tunes documenting the first global war.
The colorful original artwork reflects the styles, interests and history of the times, said Stephen Cunetto, library administrator of systems.
"The calendar, as well as the note cards, capture some of the romance of the collection, which is housed in Mitchell Memorial Library and now is being digitized so that it will be available to scholars worldwide," said Cunetto. A different collage is featured on each month and each card, he added.
Templeton amassed the huge collection over his lifetime, said his son Chip, who has continued the family business in Starkville. "He knew the real value of the collection was the history the sheet music documented," Templeton said.
Daughter Mary Beth Templeton Langston of Starkville noted that "it is obvious the collection will continue to be valuable to musicologists and other scholars. We hope that this publication of the sheet music art will entice even more people to browse through the collection and learn from it."
Calendars are available for $12 each; a collection of 12 note cards, for $7. Proceeds will go toward future projects relating to the Templeton Collection.
To order online, visit http://library.msstate.edu/templeton. Telephone orders may be placed at 662-325-0813; and purchases made at the library's Access Services desk.