Mirth and Music with the Young Folks

I’m only able to share this with you thanks to the kindness of the Victoria and Albert Museum, who snatched some scans for me. When David Swan ceased his publishing activities, Mozart Allan added this collection to his own catalogue. Interestingly, Swan used an Edinburgh printer rather than Glasgow’s own Aird and Coghill, but then again, Swan did come from Edinburgh originally.

Another interesting feature is the wee poem that he has quoted on the front cover – it is by a female poet, and appeared in periodicals in the mid-19th century. Not that it’s a particularly noteworthy piece, but it’s nice to think that Swan thought it worth quoting, some three decades after it first appeared. (It would have been civil had he attributed it to the lady, though!) I haven’t yet found out anything about her apart from her name, but give me time ….