I don't know if they had books collecting the maudlin ballads. If they did, I would like to see some. Going from my knowledge of the variations of words and tunes, there may not have been books but there was sheet music. I have found some on:

http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/index.html

and some in this data base. But, for example, "Put My Little Shoes Away" and "MY MOTHER WAS A LADY", both of which, I believe, are in this data base and in the levy file above, have words and tunes that differ considerably from the ones sung to me by my mother and both grandmothers. I usually like my mother's and gmothers' versions better - hey they sang them to me when I was two and three. - Philip Hudson