I received a nice note from John on his music, which I am going to
re-answer in a detailed manner.  I would advise that you not let the
fancy black and white lithos on the covers of this early ragtime stuff
excite you.  The collectors of the 1800s class, of course, of whom I
have many, want the color stuff also, like the Colonel Stetson March,
and even Home Sweet Home, etc.

I want to comment on the Maple Leaf Rag.  There was man named John Stark
who gave Joplin $50 for the Maple Leaf Rag and a royalty of 1 cent for
each copy sold.  Unheard of in those days, and Joplin was NOT the best
piano player in the group either, surprising to say.

A few priceless ragtime pieces of music, and those that came in with
cakewalks and such might be difficult to recognize as originals.  Many
of the rags were done on Connerized player rolls and may have been
printed only in and about 1924, and some not at all, and they are still
on the author-played rolls.

If you have an original first edition (March 1904) of "The
Chrysanthemum", printed by the gentleman John Stark, whom I mentioned
in the other note here, there is a dedication line in fine print near
the top of the cover, dedicating the piece to Freddie Alexander.  The
first edition of the rag came out in 3/04, Scott married Freddie in
06/04 and removed this dedication after about 500 pieces or so, when
she passed on, in 09/04 from pneumonia.

The valuable edition of the MAPLE LEAF RAG is, of course, from St.
Louis ( where John Stark was located).  It carries the top tag line of
"Dedicated to the Maple Leaf Club", and subsequent under-title credits
of Swipesey Cake Walk and Augustain Club Waltz, and a huge maple leaf,
in some ambiguous color, hangs over the words "King of Ragtime writers
Scott Joplin", and the piece is large format, 9.5" x 14" approximately.
Some rags were marked to be played slow, but Maple Leaf is, like The
Chrysanthemum, is played in march time of 2/4.

The Sedalia, MO, Stark edition of Maple Leaf pictures two couples, and
the man with a cane, in each instance, with permission to use this,
granted by the American Tobacco Company.  The original The CASCADES is
also in 2/4 march temp, and the cover is highly decorated.  Its
hallmark give-away is the dedication in the upper right corner, where
it is dedicated to the two banjoists Kimball and Donovan.

There are many many reprints and copies of early ragtime without
copyright dates on them.  They are not definitive as real ragtime,
while cakewalks (the music pieces) were slowly dying out right at the
turn of the century, and usually a piece such as DILL PICKLES is an
example of the syncopation and timing and rhythm of a ragtime.  The
timing was heavily influenced by the "Ethiopian" of that time, the
black man, and such things as husking bees, 'walking-the-dog",
Charleston, Bunny Hugs and others followed in their time, in that suit.

Here is the point, if you think you have an original Maple Leaf Rag,
it was printed by the firm named Westover, in Saint Louis, with 5000
copies put out.

Stark's ledger five years later shows a total of one million copies
sold.  Chrysanthemum and The Cascades went through the same, and even
now, Joplin's ragtime compact disks are interpreted, as were the
Connorized rolls, by third parties.

In sheet music it is fascinating to see what these folks like Joplin
got financially for their work.  Stephen Foster sold his stuff for
pennies and at the same time, Michael Nolan got the best of it all: he
sold all FOUR of his only compositions, "Little Annie Rooney", "I'll
Whistle and I'll Wait for Katie",  etc., for a penny, as he was in love
with Mrs. Christy of the Christy Minstrels.  This love lost him a lot of
his business, and both composers, Foster and Nolan hit the dirt,
financially.

John, I am tied up with WurliTzering my way through Holy Week.
I promise all of you a few more notes on these sheets.  Our collections
here are up in the tens of thousands now, honestly, and the history
behind some of them and their value is exciting and fascinating.

I always remember hanging out at an apartment across the street from
Irving Berlin on Sutton Place down in New York City, and daily we would
say hello as he took his slow walk around the block.  Here was a man
that wrote some of the best comedy and best music we have, and I am
sure he told me his best, fun-making song was "Cohen Owes Me $97",
a copy of which I have on our grand here.

Be sure to keep your 1800 music in acid-free wrapping or sleeves and do
not be misled by the fact that the matte you may use if you frame the
sheet says acid free -- well, it isn't.  The best advice from a "framer"
of such material suggests a cotton wad that is available, to take care
of its disintegration.  Use archival tape on repairs and not any type
of Scotch tape.  More on this later if there are any questions.

Bill Ryan
The Backroom Piano
Box 1
Castleton, NY 12033-0002