Old Books About Music...My Friend's Favorite

I noticed the short stack of old books on the desk next to me at tonight's writing group. The top book caught my attention. 

The World's Best Music - Vocal

How cool is that?

Then I thought about it--these books were in the home of a friend who has two great loves: books and music. And she's incredibly talented in both. And because I'm curious, I picked up the vocal book to leaf through it. After all, I've been singing most of my life. There had to be at least one song I knew.

That's about how many songs I knew...one.

The first couple of pages were missing so I didn't know when the book was published, then again, maybe books that old did not have the printing information on the first few pages. When I perused through the book, I noticed most of the copywriting dates were from 1904. That's twenty years before my father was born. Or, in other words, old.

The books work great as a decoration. I wondered if they are actually used for the purpose for which they were originally published--as voice lesson material. I suppose they could be, but if it were me, I'd photograph the pages then print them out to use them. The book is over a century old, after all.

After gently flipping through the pages, checking out the music and the pictures, I replaced the book with its siblings. The book's title made me wonder, is this a collection of the world's best vocal music? It may have been then, but maybe not so much now.