Music publishing in Baltimore started in the 1790s when Joseph Carr brought his family to America from England. He and his younger son, Thomas, settled in Baltimore; his older son, Benjamin, made Philadelphia his headquarters.

This section contains numerous Carrs from the first two decades of the l9th Century. They contain some of the rarest material available, including a copy of the first edition of the words and music of "The Star Spangled Banner", published almost immediately after the Battle of Fort McHenry in September 1814.

Few of the early pieces are illustrated, but later Maryland publishers experimented with engraved title pages, some with vignettes of prominent individuals. Shortly after lithography was introduced to music, several Baltimoreans entered that field. The most important Maryland lithographer in the 1830s was Edward Weber, who was eventually to bring his nephews, named Hoen, into his business. The Hoens became outstanding color lithographers, as this collection demonstrates. Their plant thrived through good times and bad and existed until a few years ago.

The collection contains dozens of Hoen's works. We might call attention to "The Song of the Car Bell", an 1876 portrayal of a horse-drawn car running on tracks. Many portray scenes in and around Baltimore.

Much patriotic music saw the light of day in Baltimore, especially during the period of the Civil War, when the first edition of "Maryland, My Maryland", with 'Southern' words, was published by a Baltimore music printing house, one of half a dozen in the city. Another rare item is a cantata "The Grasshopper", filled with sketches by Adalbert Volck.