Featured Thrift Find - Is this an original 1866 Music From the Black Crook poster from New York?

A friend found this yesterday at a local thrift store & called me asking if I thought it was anything and if I could ask the antique forum I'm always talking about?
He told me if it was real I could sell it & we'd split the money! He'd found a black & white one selling for several thousand dollars! He also said the measurements were right: visible is 13.75" x 10.5" approx.

I found a different one that Walmart is selling, but this one 'looks' old! Plus, I couldn't find a copy of this one new or old for sale.
Could this be an original from the 1st musical?!



There is writing just under the matting at the bottom of the poster/cover



The back looks professionally framed with foamboard(?) and clips - I'm going to have to open back to be sure, right?

 

If it's as good as it looks, the word 'Jackpot!' comes to mind! Profound good fortune, Journey...

 

So I should take out of frame to verify?

 

For the date: a chromolithograph. At that size, it might be a sheet music cover.

The framing is certainly new, so I don't see a problem with a closer look at the print.

It could be fragile. be careful.

 

Here's information on The Black Crook with photograph of what may be an original of your piece. For comparison.

http://kurtofgerolstein.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-black-crook-real-story-of.html

Debora

 

My first thought was sheet music cover too.

 

Perhaps a microscope or strong magnifying glass could reveal the type of printing and therefore its exact origin (if you know what you are looking for). A bit less destructive than taking it apart.

 

IT'S A SHEET MUSIC BOOK!! I wanted to cry - but it does seem old, the text 'entered according to act of congress' on very bottom of front cover (1st two photos below) is also on bottom of first page of music (last 2 photos - remember I was looking at this from back to front). Also, it has no staples; just the folded sheets (4-5 pages total) resting inside each other - could this music book be old and/or a souvenir of what songs played that night for people to play again at home or just have as a reminder?
Thanks everyone for having your fingers crossed with me - next time!

 

So if it was an original poster it would br worth a few quid but because it's sheet music then it's worth jack bo diddly?

 

I don't know - hoping it is because it seems rare; I can't find another example.

 

It's probably that old, and good that it's intact and complete (?), and in very good condition. Those are all pluses. This has some value. I think you'll find lots of sheet music covers on eBay to compare. Anybody who likes chromos from that period (and plenty do) will like this.

 

If you haven't already, you should read about The Black Crook.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Crook

Debora

 

Copy in the Library of Congress.

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/06/16/musical-month-music-black-crook

Debora

 

I don't see much on offer associated with The Black Crook. Most in archives, museums.

Debora

 

Here is a sheet music cover, framed, though a little different.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/93088882_transformation-polka-hand-colored-lithograph-cover

Sold for $130.

 

This is from the first show right?
I also noticed most were museums/libraries and/or digital

 

The copyright date on the front of yours is 1867. The Black Crook opened in September 1866. According to this, its original run on Broadway ended Jan. 4, 1868: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-black-crook-12518
So if yours is an original printing it would probably have been published during the original run of the show.

 

I have one stereoview photo that somebody suggested may depict an actor from the Black Crook. If so, it would have been a later version of the show. The stereocard is from the 1870s.

I also have two different photographs that are from The White Fawn, a lesser-known but still popular successor to The Black Crook. Here is one of them. It's an early cabinet photo from the studio of Jeremiah Gurney, who was known for his celebrity photography. Just for fun... I may have posted this here before.

 

From what I've found it (Black Crook) continued after 1866 but run by the original producer/creator who had sold rights to it in NY but kept rest of country for him - letting the Broadway show build a reputation that he profited on for years!

 

On a side note I think I have a original playbill program from a later show, any ideas of worth?