Introduction by Anna E Bryan (1 results)
[Happy Birthday] Song Stories for Kindergarten; music composed and arranged by Mildred J. Hill; words written and adapted by Patty S. Hill; with an introduction by Anna E. Bryan. [ RARE first publication of "The Birthday Song", aka "Happy Birthday to You", in the original version "Good Morning to All"]
Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill ; introduction by Anna E. Bryan
Language: English
Published by Clayton F. Summy; Chicago, 1893
- Hardcover
- First Edition
Seller: Avenue Victor Hugo Books, Newmarket, NH, U.S.A.Avenue Victor Hugo Books
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used - Good
US$ 749.99
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Add to basketHardcover. Condition: Good +. Without dust jacket (if issue. First Edition. A rare copy of this original publication of "The Birthday Song." Quarto, 11 1/4" tall, xvi + 79 pages, gilt titles on black cloth. A good plus, sturdy hard cover overall with moderate shelf wear, corners rubbed, bottom fore-corner tips worn through to bo…ards, spine cloth frayed at top and bottom edges, cloth lightly finger soiled, interior very good, hinges and binding solid, paper clean and moderately yellowed. Previous owner's signature on front free endpaper and additional notations penned on a rear flyleaf dated June 1, 1894. Includes many other children's songs including 'As I walked over the hills one day', 'Bye baby! night is come', 'Do you hear the sound of rain', 'Merry little snow flakes', 'Rub, scrub, rub-a-dub-dub', etc. The 1893 first edition with the all-time most popular tune for 'Happy Birthday', originally entitled "Good-Morning to All" (as recognized in the famous Supreme Court case). Per Wikipedia: "The melody of 'Happy Birthday to You' comes from the song 'Good Morning to All', which was written and composed by American siblings Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893. Patty was a kindergarten principal in Louisville, Kentucky, developing various teaching methods at what is now the Little Loomhouse; Mildred was a pianist and composer. The sisters created 'Good Morning to All' as a song that would be easy to be sung by young children. . . The combination of melody and lyrics in 'Happy Birthday to You' first appeared in print in 1912, and probably existed even earlier. . . .None of these early appearances included credits or copyright notices. [note: This is not true--this copy has a copyright for the year 1893 ] The Summy Company registered for copyright in 1935, crediting authors Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. R.R. Forman.[citation needed] In 1990, Warner Chappell purchased the company owning the copyright for $15 million, with the value of 'Happy Birthday' estimated at $5 million. Based on the 1935 copyright registration, Warner claims that the United States copyright will not expire until 2030, and that unauthorized public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid to it. In one specific instance on February 2010, these royalties were said to amount to $700. In the European Union, the copyright of the song will expire on December 31, 2016. The actual American copyright status of 'Happy Birthday to You' began to draw more attention with the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998. When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Act in Eldred v. Ashcroft in 2003, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer specifically mentioned 'Happy Birthday to You' in his dissenting opinion. American law professor Robert Brauneis, who heavily researched the song, has expressed strong doubts that it is still under copyright.