Friends of the Sacred Harp Auction and Raffle

[Will Fitzgerald]

 

In order to support the upcoming revision of the 1991 (“Denson”) edition of the Sacred Harp, The Friends of the Sacred Harp are holding an auction and raffle, starting today. We are offering the following at auction:

 

1.     A copy of the rare 1879 B.F. White “Forth Edition,” of which only a few copies; this copy, which was donated by White’s descendant, A.F. O’Leary of Bennington Tennessee. Among its distinct features are the setting of 384 (“Panting for Heaven”) in ¾ time, and the text of 569b (“Sacred Throne”) reads “That sacred flood from Jesus’ veins was free to take away Mary’s and Manasseh’s stains” instead of “make away.” It’s called the “Forth Edition” because the Gospel Forth Publishing Company made a small specimen run, which was never expanded after B.F. White died.

2.    The first Sacred Harp “NFT” (non-fungible token). NFTs are a way for artists and others to sell certificates of authenticity for works of art. A recent NFT for digital art by the artist “Beeple” sold for $69 million dollars, and a NFT for a New York Times article sold for $560,000. This NFT will be for an original photo made of a print of the book design proposal for the new edition of the Sacred Harp. Some people are calling NFTs the next big boom in art investment.

3.    Drop one song from the new edition of the Sacred Harp! Do you think 176 (“Africa”) is over sung and you never want to hear it again? Dislike the imagery in 115 (“Edmonds”)? The winner of this auction will have the right to enjoin the Revision Committee for dropping a song of your choice.

4.    Keep one song from the new edition of the Sacred Harp! Love 176, and want it to be permanently ensconced in the new revision? Did you sing 115 at your wedding and want to retain that sweet memory by memorializing it in the book?  The winner of this auction will have the right to enjoin the Revision Committee for keeping a song of your choice.
(Note that in case of a conflict between (3) and (4) (that is, the winner of the former wants to drop a song the winner of the later wants to keep) you will agree to a second auction between the two winners.)

 

In addition, the following items will be raffled off; tickets will be $10 each, or 3 for $25. Winners will have their pick of the items which were “discovered” by a camper at Camp Fasola.

 

1.     A hat owned Karen Willard of Washington, flowered and mighty tall.

2.    A pair of Samuel Sommers’s shoes, with red striped heels.

3.    A pair of skates owned by Bridge Hill Kennedy, which will make you look cool, even if you never look cool.

4.    A toupee of a male Sacred Harp singer, who will not be named because of restraining orders.

5.    A supercomputer previously managed by David Ivey.

6.    Several tubes of very fine lipstick belong to Susan Cherones.

 

The website is https://SacredHarpAuction.art