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First Appearance of The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics by Francis Scott Key in 1814

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,600.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
First Appearance of The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics by Francis Scott Key in 1814
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War of 1812
First American Magazine Appearance of Lyrics for “The Star Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key 1814
1814-Dated War of 1812 Period, Hardbound Volume IV of, “The Analectic Magazine,” Containing All Four Stanzas of “The Star Spangled Banner,” Pages 433 & 434, first written on September 14, 1814 by poet Francis Scott Key, here printed within the November Issue, Philadelphia, Fine.
An original Bound Volume IV of “The Analectic Magazine” (Volume 4) comprising the second half of the year 1814, and issued during the War of 1812. This rare Volume contains 524 pages in a 8.5” x 5” format, including several printed engravings, specially of American Military Heroes of the War of 1812 which was still being fought! This historic magazine contains within its November 1814 issue, the Very First Printing in either magazine or book form, Francis Scott Key’s Poem later known as “The Star Spangled Banner,” here first presented under its original title, “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” All four stanzas are fully printed on pages 433-434. The editor prefixes the poem with a note stating:

“These lines have been already published in several of our newspapers... we think that their merit entitles them to preservation in some more permanent form than the columns of a daily paper...”

The editor then tells the story of how the poem came to be written. There follows the text as printed in the early newspapers and broadsides. The song version differs just slightly from the manuscript poem reading. It was apparently copied from the first Broadside issued by “The Baltimore American” or “The Baltimore Patriot.” A note at the beginning of the poem states: “Tune - Anacreon In Heaven.” The original 1/2 morocco hard covers are detached yet present. Its pages are quite heavily toned with scattered foxing, and some loose at front, scattered dampstaining. The half calf hard covers are scuffed, torn and heavily worn, though the Volume itself is complete, entirely intact other than as mentioned. Overall, in need of rebinding and conservation. Comes housed in a Custom 1/4 Calf Slipcase and internal cloth internal case, the Slipcase with gold lettering on its spine reading “THE ANALECTIC MAGAZINE 4” and “THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER - 1814”. We sold a similar example in our EAHA Auction of August 26, 2000, Lot #290, in Fine condition where that lot brought $3,450. This example conservatively estimated.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by the then 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. Flag, with 15 Stars and 15 Stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the U.S. victory.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "To Anacreon in Heaven" (or "The Anacreontic Song"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it soon became a well-known U.S. patriotic song. With a range of 19 semitones, it is known for being very difficult to sing. Although the poem has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of U.S. officialdom. "Hail, Columbia" served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", whose melody is identical to "God Save the Queen", the United Kingdom's national anthem, also served as a de facto national anthem