White, Smith & Co.

cover 1914

cover

cover 1928

History

Founded 1867 by Charles Albert White (1832–1892), William Francis Smith (1840–1891) and John Frank Perry (of New Bedford). Perry withdrew in 1874 to start his own firm.

The firm was involved in a very famous case decided by the US Supreme Court in 1908, White-Smith vs. Apollo which ultimately resulted in the introduction of the provision for a compulsory license for the manufacture and distribution of recordings in the major revision of the copyright law enacted in 1909. Though one of the most successful music publishers in the United States at the time of the famous court case - boasting 9 branch offices, the firm declined over the ensuing decades and was utimately sold to Edwin H. Morris & Co. of New York in 1944, who continued to use the imprint until 1973.

See also their Wikipedia article.

Editions

Periodicals

• The Folio (1869–1895)

Imprints, Agencies, Addresses

Imprints

• White, Smith & Perry (1867-1874)
• White, Smith & Co. (1874-ca.1888)
• White-Smith Music Publishing Co. (1889-ca.1980)

Addresses

• 298, 300 Washington Street, Boston
• 516 Washington Street, Boston
• 188 & 190 State Street, Chicago (1882)

Changed address by 1875.

Plate Numbers

White-Smith Publishing Company

Sources Consulted

• Scores from White, Smith, as often for legal reasons in the 19th century United States, generally have their own copyright either taken out by the composer or by the company - they rarely lack any copyright date at all, as more often with contemporary European scores. So constructing a plate table is somewhat easier.
• The first page of "The Folio, of White, Smith and Company" by H. Earle Johnson, from American Music, Spring 1984 issue, vol.2 no.1, pp.88–104. That Perry withdrew in 1874 is also from this article.

Authority control

• VIAF (White-Smith Music Pub. Co.)