The Piano Bench Digital Collection

The Piano Bench Collection is comprised of sheet music published before 1923. The nucleus of this collection came from Fred Edmiston, a former librarian at Auburn University. Mr. Edmiston began collecting the items around 1944 or 1945 when he spent summers in Mobile, Alabama, with his sister and brother-in-law. His brother-in-law, who owned a piano store (Piano Sales Co., just off Dauphin St., on North Joachim St.), was unable to get new pianos during war. The next best thing was second-hand pianos which could be repaired and re-sold, and they came by the boxcar load from the Midwest, especially from the Chicago area. Usually the pianos came with their benches, which often contained sheet music which was given to Mr. Edmiston. Although he later added some items, these pieces form the bulk of the Piano Bench Collection.