Treemonisha: Opera in Three Acts: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-yellow music score for Treemonisha: Opera in Three Acts, written and published by Scott Joplin, and inscribed to singer Etta Moten Barnett from Mrs. Scott Joplin.

The large quarto book has original cloth-backed printed covers and 230 pages. The front cover features an ornate double-lined square border within which is black type that reads: [TREEMONISHA / OPERA / in Three Acts / Words and Music / BY / SCOTT JOPLIN. / Price $2.50 / PUBLISHED BY / SCOTT JOPLIN / NEW YORK.]. Small flowers and various abstract art deco are drawn in and around the title words. On the inside cover is an inscription, “To / Etta Moten / From / Mrs. Scott Joplin / June 18-1939” in dark ink. The last page with black print is numbered at 230. There are no markings on the reverse of the back cover.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1911
• Written by: Scott Joplin, American, 1867 - 1917
• Received by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: books
• Medium: ink on paper with fabric and cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D (open): 8 15/16 × 19 7/8 × 3/4 in. (22.7 × 50.5 × 1.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (closed): 8 15/16 × 10 3/16 × 3/4 in. (22.7 × 25.8 × 1.9 cm)
• Place printed: New York, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Opera (Music)
• Object number: 2022.21.17
• 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.