[U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1840]. - [President William Henry HARRISON (1773-1841), & Vice-President John TYLER (1790-1862)].

Three pieces of engraved sheet music that were part of the Whig 1840 U.S. presidential campaign, including ‘Tip and Ty’ the song which provided a number of political catch-phrases: most famously ‘Tippacanoe and Tyler too’. Very rare on the market.

[Alexander Coffman ROSS (1812-1883, lyricist)]. Title: Tip and Ty : a new comic Whig glee, dedicated to the Louisiana Whig delegation to the Bunker Hill convention. New York: Parker & Ditson, [no date but 1840?]. Folio (13 ¼ x 10 inches). 2 leaves which used to be a bi-folium. Engraved title, music and lyrics, printed on the verso of the first leaf and the recto of the second. (The bi-folium now two leaves, some small tears, some small voids to inner blank margins, some spotting to extremities).  The engraved words and music which featured prominently in the hard-fought Van Buren versus William Henry Harrison presidential campaign of 1840.

[with:]

[ANON.] Title: In Days of Old a favorite patriotic ballad, as sung at the Tippecanoe Associations, with great applause, partly written and arranged, for the piano forte, by a member of the Fifth Ward Club. [No place but New York: no date but 1840?]. Folio (13 ¼ x 10 inches). Bi-folium, 3pp . engraved title and  music, printed on the recto and verso of the first leaf and the recto only of the second. (Some spotting, removed from an album).  A nice example: words and music as political propaganda. The song recalls Harrison’s leading part in the battle of Tippecanoe in November 1811: an event which cemented his reputation as an American hero, a key factor in the 1840 election.

[and:]

Charles ZEUNER (1795-1857). Title: Gen. Harrison’s Quick Step subject from Herz arranged for the piano forte by Ch. Zeuner. New York: Parker & Ditson, [1840]. Folio (13 ¼ x 10 inches). Bifolium, 2pp of engraved title and music, printed on the verso of the first leaf and the recto of the second. (Some small tears, some small voids to inner blank margins, some spotting to extremities, removed from an album).  A nice example: unlike the other pieces in this collection, this piece does not include any lyrics. The title is sufficient to remind listeners of Harrison’s glorious martial past.

“It was going to be a tight Presidential Election in 1840. William Henry Harrison was running against incumbent, Martin Van Buren. Harrison used innovative techniques that foreshadowed modern campaign tactics.

His supporters went visual and big. They made a huge ball, about ten feet tall, loaded it up with campaign slogans, and physically rolled it from town-to-town. This is the origin of the phrase ‘Keep the Ball Rolling’. Some of the slogans on this ball were ‘Fare well Dear Van, not the man’, referring to opponent Martin Van Buren. Or ‘To Guide the ship, Old Tip’, referring to Harrison and his famous victory at Tippecanoe.

They had a song with a memorable tagline ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler Too’ [the present work]. The song itself is forgotten, but not the famous slogan.

His opponent’s campaign fought back. They tried to exploit his age. At 67, he was the oldest candidate to-date. His opponents said Harrison was an old man who would be content to sit in his log cabin and drink hard cider. This backfired. Harrison’s campaigned embraced these descriptions. The campaign used the log cabin image to support Harrison as a common humble man versus the aristocratic Van Buren. Somewhat fake news, as Harrison was born into a well-off family in Virginia while Van Buren came from a poor family in upstate New York .”

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