This page makes available certain online resources in browsable galleries. For a wealth of further digitised material, including images and sound recordings, search the Archive Catalogues and Indexes.
Historical Dance and Tune books
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) contains many rare and unique items of literature, both printed and in manuscript, including a large collection of historic dance books and manuscript tune books. This gallery brings together a selection of these digitised items from across our library and archive collections.
The VWML is indebted to Robin Seifert for his kind assistance digitising the manuscript collections. The development of this Gallery has been funded by the Islington Folk Club and Paul Cooper.
Cecil Sharp’s Appalachian Diaries
Sharp's North American collection is regarded as a landmark in folk music fieldwork. Here we are making available online access to Cecil Sharp's only surviving personal diaries in which he describes his collecting experiences in the Appalachian Mountains.
Cecil Sharp’s photos of singers and dancers
While Cecil Sharp was collecting folk songs he also took photos of many of the singers, dancers and others that he met on his travels. These photos are a unique record of the rural Edwardian working classes in both south west England and the Appalachian Mountains in the United States.
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