Sheet music from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries was, shall we say, the record cover art of its day. Before 78 rpm records were bound into albums with illustrated covers, sheet music was the primary platform for home entertainment. And early on, music publishers understood the virtue in adorning the “first page” with attractive art and appealing typography. These examples (c. 1922) are uniquely poster-like. Hand lettering dominates, and the litho crayon and watercolor brush is apparent. Curiously, despite the virtuosity, the designers’ names and signatures are unknown to me.
