New Harp of Columbia - Publication Background

Publication Background

Marcus Lafayette Swan was born in Knoxville in 1827, the son of prominent lawyer William H. Swan, Jr. (1798–1859). In 1847, his father married Hannah Wells Crozier, who hailed from a prominent family of Knoxville politicians and businesspeople. The Croziers' business enterprises included a printing company, Crozier & Barton, which had published hymn books as early as 1825, and thus may have inspired the Swans to publish their own collection of songs. The Harp of Columbia, published by the Swans as a singing school manual in 1848, was moderately successful, and was reprinted several times during the 1850s.

During the Civil War, Marcus Swan supported the Confederacy, and fled to Bellefonte, Alabama, when the Union Army occupied Knoxville. While living in Bellefonte, he wrote the introduction to The New Harp of Columbia, which was published in Knoxville in 1867. By the time of his death, Swan had amassed a relatively large fortune.

The New Harp of Columbia has been reprinted numerous times since its initial publication. Musicologist Dorothy Horn suggests the success of The New Harp is due to its excellent printing and its larger than normal sample of standard tunes favored by various Protestant denominations.