Sheet music and other material apparently collected over the years by the Dousman family of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The Dousmans were among the earliest settlers of Prairie du Chien and built Villa Louis, a Victorian home on the Mississippi River, now a Wisconsin historic site operated by the State Historical Society. The material seems to have been used in family and social gatherings and in the education of the Dousman children. The bulk of the collection is in the category SHEET MUSIC, published between 1825 and 1944. It constitutes a sample of the musical tastes of the times. The sheet music is conspicuous by the inclusion of a large number of pieces which, by today's standards, would be considered unflattering caricatures of Blacks. The unbound sheet music is arranged alphabetically by title; there are also five bound volumes which include many of the earliest dated pieces. Both popular and classical music is present.
The collection also includes ANTHOLOGIES (much like the sheet music) and METHOD BOOKS for piano, guitar, and voice. There is also a small amount of MANUSCRIPT MUSIC, the most important of which are the original compositions of Virginia Dousman Bigelow, including “Notes on Songs by Virginia D. Bigelow with introduction of Mr. Abbott and Mr. Kelliher who played and sang these songs at Villa Louis.” There are also three folders of MISCELLANY (mostly operas and trio albums) and a series of FRAGMENTARY AND LOOSE SHEETS made up of incomplete material and material that could not be identified, but consisting mostly of fragments of sheet music.
