Seek No Further March: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Printed sheet music for "Seek No Further March" by Horace Weston.

The three page folio has a cover featuring an illustrated portrait of Weston standing with his five-string banjo. Above the illustration is the text [HORACE WESTON'S WORLD RENOWNED BANJO MUSIC] in decorative type. To the right of the portrait is a listing of Weston's songs with prices for the sheet music. The songs include [THE ROARER MARCH (for 2 Banjos)], [WESTON'S NEW SCHOTTISCHE], [ELDERBERRY CLOG HORNPIPE], and others. A blue mark has been made on [SEEK NO FURTHER MARCH]. Below the portrait and song listing is the text [PUBLISHED BY S. S. STEWART, PHILADELPHIA, PA / BANJO MANUFACTURER AND BANJO MUSIC PUBLISHER / ALSO PUBLISHER OF "THE BANJO AND GUITAR JOURNAL"].

The center of the folio contains two pages of sheet music, with the title [SEEK NO FURTHER MARCH] at the top of the left side, along with [Composed for the Banjo, By HORACE WESTON.]. At the bottom of the left page is the notice [Copyright 1883 by S.S. Stewart]. At the bottom of the right page are price listings for orchestra accompaniment and piano accompaniment.

The back page of the folio features an advertisement for [S.S. STEWART'S $125 PRESENTATION BANJO] with engraving illustrations depicting the front and back of the banjo. At the bottom of the advertisement is the text [S.S. STEWART / Nos. 221 AND 223 CHURCH STREET / PHILADELPHIA, PA].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1883
• Written by: Horace Weston, American, 1825 - 1890
• Published by: S. S. Stewart, American, 1878 - 1910
• Type: sheet music
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 14 3/16 x 10 7/8 in. (36 x 27.6 cm)
• Place printed: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Minstrel (Music)
• Object number: 2012.46.67
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.