<Go back to the Topics Index results>


Our Land A NATIONAL SONG.
   
Complete Explanation:
An illustrated sheet music cover for a song by George W. Babcock (Thomas Comer, composer) and dedicated to Samuel R. Spinney, Esq.

The design shows Columbia or American Liberty (center) wearing a gorgon's head on her breast and a Phrygian cap ornamented with stars. She holds a shield and an American flag. On the ground to the right is an eagle with arrows and a streamer with the motto "E Pluribus Unum." On the left is a kneeling female figure, presumably representing Learning or History, holding a laurel wreath and a large book. She motions with her left hand and looks toward Columbia. Behind, in a bare mountainous landscape under a cloudy sky, sits a classical temple-like building with a dome supported by a large peristyle lantern. A variant copy (cover only with different image) is in P&P LOT 10615-34; LC-USZ62-89295.


Website design © 2010 HarpWeek, LLC
All Content © 1998-2010 HarpWeek, LLC
Please submit questions to webmaster@harpweek.com