Forwarded message: --- Dear Music Historians, Curators, and Librarians,

After 51 years in Bryn Mawr, the Theodore Presser Company will soon be moving its entire operations to a new nearby location.

Our present facility houses historical archives of the Oliver Ditson Company and The John Church Company, as well as Presser and newer companies including Merion, Mercury, and Elkan-Vogel.

In preparing our move to smaller quarters it is neither possible nor useful to bring the thousands of publications (sheet music and books) which have been out of print for many decades, or other archives including some manuscripts and correspondence leading to these publications.

Presser would like to offer these materials to one or more libraries or archives interested in providing a home for these archives, in the best interest of American music history and research. Some materials are in mint condition, but many are dirty or worn at the edges.

Anyone interested in visiting or discussing this should contact me via private email. There is no existing inventory or catalog of the materials being offered, and a visit to our office (30 minutes west of Philadelphia) is the only way to get a detailed sense of what is available. Very roughly speaking, the offered materials are mainly publications and supporting information of Presser, Ditson, and Church, from the late 19th century through the 1960s.

Although it will sadden us to part with these archives, we are hopeful that placement in a public archive will make this music and other information more easily accessible to scholars and historians.

Please feel free to circulate this letter to your colleagues.

Sincerely,

Daniel Dorff, Director of Publications Theodore Presser Company 1 Presser Place, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 phone 610-525-3636, ext. 206 fax 610-527-7841 visit www.cdsheetmusic.com

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Unfortunately, no email address was included in this forwarded message. I'll search for it and try to post it tomorrow.