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A Good Old London Town Girl

Music Score
ca. late 19th century - early 20th century (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Front cover of music sheet for A Good Old London Town Girl, written and composed by Charles Osborne and sung by G.H. Chirgwin. Front cover lithograph by H.G. Banks. Published in London by Francis, Day & Hunter and in New York by T.B. Harms & Co., ca. late 19th century - early 20th century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA Good Old London Town Girl (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Lithograph on paper
Brief description
Front cover of music sheet for A Good Old London Town Girl, written and composed by Charles Osborne, sung by G.H. Chirgwin, illustrated by H.G. Banks, published in London by Francis, Day & Hunter, ca. late 19th century - early 20th century.
Physical description
Front cover of music sheet for A Good Old London Town Girl, written and composed by Charles Osborne, published in London. Illustrated with head and bust portrait of G. H. Chirgwin (1854-1922) on the right hand side of the page, wearing his characteristic diamond-shaped white makeup on his right eye. On the background, at the top left, are a small head and shoulders portrait of a lady, wearing a hat, and a view of London showing the Theames and Cleopatra's Needle, erected on Victoria Embankment in 1878
Front cover only.
Dimensions
  • Height: 35.7cm
  • Width: 26.1cm
Marks and inscriptions
'A Good Old London Town Girl / Chorus. / She's not a coon that hails from Carolina, / She's never "hoed the cotton in her life; / Her name is neither Chloe nor Dinah, / But plain Eliza, and she's going to be my wife. / And she's not a black, nor yet a brown girl, / An up to date and dear at half-a-crown girl; / She's a genuine cockney bred and born, / A good old London Town girl! / Written and composed by Charles Osborne, sung by / G.H. Chirgwin / London / Francis, Day & Hunter, 142 Charing Cross Road (Oxford St. End) / Smallwood's Celebrated Pianoforte Tutor. / Smallwood's 55 Meoldious Exercises, Etc. / New York: T.B. Harms & Co. 18 East 22nd Street / Copyright MDCCCXCVIII in the United States of America, by Francis, Day & HUnter / H.G. Banks, Lith.' (Printed on front cover.)
Credit line
Gabrielle Enthoven Collection
Object history
NB The term "coon" refers to a demeaning stereotype born out of plantation slavery and applied to African Americans. The term is repeated here in its original historical context.
Subject depicted
Literary referenceA Good Old London Town Girl
Summary
Front cover of music sheet for A Good Old London Town Girl, written and composed by Charles Osborne and sung by G.H. Chirgwin. Front cover lithograph by H.G. Banks. Published in London by Francis, Day & Hunter and in New York by T.B. Harms & Co., ca. late 19th century - early 20th century.
Collection
Accession number
S.337-2012

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Record createdApril 26, 2012
Record URL
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