I am exceptionally excited this month to write this article. However, let me begin slowly and try to remain coherent. On Friday afternoon, September 9, 1966, I was standing next to Mrs. Lillian Wells, a local antique dealer, at the A.W. Perry & Sons Music Store auction in Sedalia, Missouri. At that time, I knew little of Scott Joplin, and ragtime to me was something Bob Darch played at lightning speed on his old Cornish Upright Saloon Piano.
As an older graduate student in history, the legacy of the venerable old business fascinated me. I had met Lillian previously and not having two nickels to rub together in those days, I enjoyed watching her bid on box after box of old sheet music and business records while only obtaining a few insignificant items myself. I even helped her carry some of the boxes to her car.
Over the next few years, I became fascinated with Scott Joplin and the Perry Music Company and I began pestering Lillian about the purchases she made that auction afternoon. I learned Andrew Perry had published Joplin’s “The Favorite” in 1904 and a number of other ragtime compositions like Lee Edgar Settle’s “XL Rag,” and some James L. Johnson. The firm also published one of the longest running music magazines in the country. Only Presser’s Etude ran longer. However, for some reason I never quite understood, Lillian was very secretive about what she had.
We
