Arthur Paul Schmidt (1846-1921) was a German-born music publisher who pioneered the development and dissemination of American music. The A.P. Schmidt Company Archives documents his firm's publishing activities in Boston, Leipzig and New York, beginning with his tenure, through his successors, and until the firm was absorbed by Summy-Birchard in 1960. The Archive consists of the original manuscripts from which the music was printed, printed music, personal and corporate correspondence, photographs (primarily composers/arrangers), business records, plate books, publication books, stock and cash books. The online presentation includes only music manuscripts, if you have questions about other items in the collection, browse the finding aid, visit the Performing Arts Reading Room at the Library of Congress, or contact us through Ask a Librarian.

The collection is particularly rich in music manuscripts by women, including works by Florence Newell Barbour, Marion Bauer, Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (identified as Mrs. H.H.A. Beach in the collection), Gena Branscombe, Mable Daniels, Helen Francis Hood, Cora W. Jenkins, Margaret Ruthven Lang, Marion Osgood (composer, violinist, and director of Marion Osgood’s Ladies, the first professional women’s orchestra in the United States), Edna Rosalind Park, Anna Priscilla Risher, Clara Kathleen Rogers, Mary Turner Salter, Mabel Madison Watson, and Mildred Weston, among others.