Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

289 290 290 c   (MUSIC.) Signed carte-de-visite of the conjoined twin performers Millie and Chr istine, the “Two-Headed Nightingale.” Albumen photograph, 3 1 / 2 x 2 1 / 4 inches, on original mount with photographer’s stamp on verso, signed on verso “Millie / Chrissie”; minor foxing. Philadelphia: W.L. Germon’s Temple of Art, circa 1870s [500/750] Born into slavery in North Carolina, Millie and Christine McCoy (1851-1912) were taken from their parents before their first birthday and exhib- ited across the country in circuses and freak shows. They reached their peak of fame after emancipa- tion, performing with Barnum’s circus and touring Europe as novelty musicians; they are here shown with a guitar. The twins acquired some education on the road, and wrote an unpublished autobiogra- phy when only 17. The signatures on verso match other known examples, as seen in Swann’s 21 February 2008 catalogue and Joanne Martell’s biography Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. 289 c   (MUSIC.) Annotated handbill for the Nashville Jubilee Singers. Letter- press handbill, 9 x 6 inches; folds, minor wear, short closed tear in margin, mount remnants on top edge, contemporary notes in pencil. Simcoe, ON: Reformer Printing, [1877] [500/750] The Nashville Jubilee Singers were distinct from their obvious inspirations, the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville, TN who toured on behalf of Fisk University. This group may have had Nashville ties, but their manager was based in Toronto, Canada and this handbill was printed in nearby Simcoe. It lists the group’s repertoire of 94 songs, and boasts that the singers “confine themselves to the Songs that have sprung into life through religious fervor and inspiration, and all of these Vocalists having previously been slaves.” The original owner of this handbill noted in pencil that the performance took place in Buffalo on 27 February 1877, and numbered the songs performed in pencil, with a few other notes. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were touring Europe at this time.