This collection of 376 songs includes the best authentic versions of this music, harmony, and lyrics, and is annotated with the authors’ own modern harmonizations. The authors have also added their own Study and Performance Guide, with contextual and historical information and easily findable references to key performances on most every page. The music, dating from 1580 thru 1923, tells the American experience through songs that immigrants brought to our shores and the frontier, and into the Gilded Age and Jazz Ages. This volume is a vital reference for performers, arrangers, and composers, to present audiences with music many will never have heard, and to base new works on these songs free from licensing obligation.