Paper 28

The Country Dances of Button & Co.

Contributed by Paul Cooper, Research Editor

The firm of Button & Whitaker (the name changed several times, but was most conspicuous as Button & Whitaker) was the single most prolific publisher of Country Dances in London during the 1810s. Their publications were of an uncommonly high quality, and arguably represented the pinnacle of achievement for the entire industry, prior to the collapse of that industry c.1820. In this paper we'll review their contributions to Country Dance publishing, and especially their alliance with the Dancing Master Thomas Wilson.

Figure 1. c.1814 Trade card for Button, Whitaker & Beadnell. Courtesy of the British Museum.

Samuel James Button, and Partners

Samuel James Button was the eldest son of William Button, a bookseller and Baptist Minister. He is likely to have trained under his Father, but he went on to form a secular musical partnership with Thomas Purday, founding the publishing business of Button and Purday c.1805. The earliest dated reference to the company I've found is from mid 1805 (Morning Post, 25th June 1805), it reported: NEW MUSIC - Just Published by BUTTON and PURDAY (Successors to Mr. Thompson), 75, St Paul's Church-yard, the advert goes on to list music by Augustus Voigt, J Terrail and others as being within their catalogue. Button and Purday had purchased the business (both premises and publishing plates) of the veteran but faded Thompson music publishing dynasty, c.1805 (see Figure 3 for a map of their location, and Figure 4 for a street level view from their shop). They were conveniently located next to St Paul's Cathedral, an image of which would feature on the covers of some of their publications, e.g. the cover of Samuel Hale's c.1806 The Brighton Waltz (see Figure 4). They advertised interchangeably as both Button and Purday and Purday and Button for roughly three years. Some sources claim that Button was the senior partner, apparently on the basis that his name appeared first on their publications; the evidence for this seems inconclusive: Button was listed first in the pages of The Morning Post for 24th January 1806, 18th February 1807 and 10th February 1808; Purday was listed first in Morning Post for 24th April 1806 and 19th November 1807; Figure 8 shows an example advertisement in which both sequences of names are used within a few sentences of each other.

The final reference I've found to this initial incarnation of the firm as Purday and Button dates to February 1808. The Morning Advertiser (18th February 1808) carried an appeal on behalf of the music engraver and seller J. Balls who had suffered a career threatening fire at his premises; donations were being received by Purday & Button, amongst others, to assist Balls in his plight. This must have been close to the date at which Purday left, though a final advertisement on behalf of Button and Purday can be found in The Morning Post, 10th February 1808, in which they advertised the availability of a collection of songs by John Whitaker. Purday's association with the business was relatively brief, but this passing reference to Whitaker may have been of some significance.

Figure 2. Button & Whitaker's The Vocal Works Composed by G.F. Handel

By July 1808 (Morning Post, 7th July 1808) the firm had renamed as Button and Whitaker, Purday having left. John Whitaker was a successful composer, their partnership lasted just over a decade. They were joined in 1814 by George Beadnell, temporarily becoming Button Whitaker & Beadnell; testimony in the 1815 Platts versus Button, Whitaker & Beadnell court case indicates that Beadnell joined as a co-partner on the twenty fourth of June 1814. They also advertised as both Button & Co. (e.g. The Times, 1st January 1816) and Button, Whitaker and Co. (e.g. Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 27th March 1816) during this period. Beadnell left on the 24th June 1816, the company remaining as Button, Whitaker & Co.. Button and Whitaker in turn dissolved their partnership on the 1st January 1819 (The Globe, 17th May 1819), and the company operated as Whitaker & Co shortly thereafter (The Globe, 12th February 1819). Whitaker continued operating from the old Thompson premises at 75 St. Paul's Church-yard until at least 1824 (Morning Post, 22nd May 1824), and potentially much later.

The Company produced many musical publications throughout this roughly 20 year period, especially Country Dancing tune books. They formed active partnerships with two dancing masters known for their prolific advertising, first c.1811 with John Hopkins, and then most successfully c.1812 with Thomas Wilson. Wilson's involvement saw a dramatic improvement in the quality of their dance publications, arguably resulting in the highest quality examples the industry had ever known.

My interest in Button & Whitaker is with their dance publications, but they are better known to history as a supplier of musical instruments and music (both sacred and popular), and as successors to the Thompsons. The occupation listed on their insurance records varies from music seller (1811) to music sellers, musical instrument makers, and organ builders (1815); their c.1814 Trade Card (see Figure 1) described their business as Music Publishers, Manufacturers of Musical Instruments and Patentees of the Æolian & Double Flageolet Organs. They are known to have sold piano-fortes (a positive acceptance note for a Cabinet Piano written by Leigh Hunt and dated 7th February 1815 is available) and flutes. Button and Purday were also part of the creation myth surrounding Haydn's The Creation, and became known for publishing music by Handel (see Figure 2, reviewed in 1817 here) and by Whitaker himself.

Button & Co's Dance Publications

The business, over its several incarnations, produced dozens of Country Dance collections in less than 20 years, most in collaboration with the dancing master Thomas Wilson; we've indexed many of them below.

Figure 3. 75 St Paul's Church yard, from the Horwood map of 1792-9. © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, HUS 050.

At least two editions of Purday & Button's Twenty Four Country Dances were produced for the years 1806 and 1807. These budget collections were broadly equivalent to the many other collections produced by London's other music shops, they were unimpressive, but the starting point for all that followed. They sold for a shilling per book, and included 24 tunes with dancing figures in a treble score. Purday left in 1808 but the collection was continued under the name of Button & Whitaker (and successor variants) throughout the 1810s, and under the name Whitaker & Co into the 1820s. At least one edition of a series named Button & Purday's Twelve elegant New Dances was also published for the year 1808 (see Figure 8).

Purday & Button started issuing a premium Selection of Dances, Reels, Waltzes &c. c.1806. This collection was produced in a numbered sequence roughly quarterly; each edition cost a shilling, but only included up to 9 tunes with dance figures. The tunes were accompanied with a bass line, and were often (at least in the first few years) commissioned from notable Country Dance composers. These collections were produced sporadically over roughly a decade, at least 33 editions of which were printed, possibly more. Similar loose leaf premium collections were produced by many other music shops in London at the time, including those of Martin Platts, James Platts, Skillern & Challoner, Clementi & Co. and several others. These fragile collections were probably aimed at a different audience to the typical 24 Country Dances for the Year 18?? publications, they were designed to be bound in boards with other music collections.

Button & Whitaker continued publishing the premium Button & Whitaker's Twelve Elegant New Dances series of publications c.1810 through to c.1812; these collections cost 1s6d and included the bass score for each tune. They often featured tunes previously published in the quarterly format, but bound into a small book, possibly influenced by the similar collections sold by the rival Cahusac music publishing shop. This was a short lived format, but it may have paved the way for their subsequent L'Assemblée series of titles.

Purday and Button had taken over the business of Henry Thompson c.1805, Henry being the last member of the Thompson publishing dynasty. Thompson's had been producing annual Country Dance collections since around 1750; Button & Whitaker continued issuing Thompson branded publications from 1806, their Thompson's Twenty Four Country Dances series continued through to at least 1822. At the time of the transfer Henry Thompson had also been producing annual collections in collaboration with a composer named Mr Gray; editions were published for at least the years 1803 and 1805, and subsequently also for 1807 and 1812. Presumably the 1807 and later editions were published through Purday & Button (the cover page of the 1807 edition was only changed to refresh the year, so it indicates it was published through Thompson's).

Figure 4. Above: A view of St Paul's Churchyard, nos 70-69 in the foreground. Courtesy of the Bass Culture blog. Below: St Paul's, from the cover of a c.1806 Purday & Button publication.

Several publications offered by the business for 1811 featured choreographies by the dancing master Mr Hopkins, including both the Thompson and Twelve Elegant New Dances publications for that year. Hopkins also choreographed the 1811 first edition of a new series titled Le Sylphe which would go on to run throughout the 1810s and into the 1820s. The Le Sylphe brand operated alongside the Button & Whitaker and Thompson brands, resulting in the business producing three new collections of 24 Country Dances each year, whereas most other music sellers only produced one such annual collection. The Hopkins association was brief however, most of their publications from 1812 onwards were produced with figures supplied by Mr Wilson.

Perhaps the firm's greatest country dancing achievement involved yet another annual collection named L'Assemblée, each edition of which included 48 Country Dances with a supporting bass score of music. They were produced between at least 1813 and 1820, skipping the year 1818 (the 5th book was dated for 1817 and the 6th for 1819). Copies sold for 3 shillings and the content was shared with the budget publications; the L'Assemblée version of a given tune was richer than the budget version due to the inclusion of the bass score, but the dancing figures were identical. Customers could purchase the three cheaper series, or spend the same amount on a single higher quality publication with two thirds of the content.

Samuel Button left the business at the start of 1819. His reasons for leaving are unknown, but it coincided with a shift in the wider industry that saw a decline to the production of many Country Dancing collections; Whitaker & Co. continued to produce collections into the 1820s, but interest in them was fading; the final such publication (that I know of) was dated for 1824.

The production of Country Dancing tune books was only a small part of their business. They also published many other varieties of music, including several dance publications for Thomas Wilson. This list includes his 1816 Quadrille Instructor, the 1817 La Batteuse, the 1817 Le Moulinet amongst others. It's possible that some of Wilson's (seemingly lost) minor works were published as a continuation of their Selection of Dances, Reels, Waltzes in later numbered editions... many of these minor works are known only by reference today, do contact us if you have copies!

The British Library has a copy of a mysterious Country Dance collection for 1817 named The Union. Their copy has the appearance of being the first in a new series of works, but the name of the publisher is missing. It's produced in a style that clearly mimics that of Button & Whitaker, but without their name on the cover or a reference to Mr Wilson. It's not clear if this was produced by a competitor, or was a genuine production; it did survive into a second edition for 1818. The pages are cut (at least in the copy I've studied) in such a way that the missing publisher name could have been an accidental truncation, but that seems suspicious. The British Library suggest that it may have been published by the rival business of Charles Wheatstone, the Bodleian Library attribute it to Christopher Gerock. I suspect this work was designed to pass as a Button & Whitaker publication but was produced by a rival.

John Hopkins, in-house choreographer c.1811

Button & Whitaker published at least three collections of Country Dances choreographed by Mr Hopkins for the year 1811. John Gattey Hopkins was a prominent dancing master in London at the time, at least if measured by his own advertising coverage. The Hopkins business ran weekly adverts in the London press, the text of which rarely varied from one year to the next (unlike the equivalent advertisements published for his subsequent replacement, Thomas Wilson); the Hopkins name would have been recognisable to London's dancers 200 years ago, but the lack of variety in the surviving material reduces its value for modern historians (see Figure 5).

John Hopkin's father was Richard Thomas Hopkins, he ran a dancing assembly at Coach-Makers-Hall in London in the late 18th Century. He taught the Minuet, Louvre, Cotillons, and English Country Dances, after the newest and most approved method in 1779 (General Advertiser & Morning Advertiser, 20th March 1779). He was still teaching at that same location twenty years later, with a repertoire that included the Minuet, Louvre, Cotillons, Highland Reels, with the Steps peculiarly adapted for those favourite Dances, Devonshire Minuet, Hornpipe, and English Country Dances, after the most approved and fashionable stile (True Briton, 23rd May 1799). In 1802 the business was renamed as Hopkins and Son (Morning Post, 27th December 1802), a few months later Richard Hopkins died, on the 18th July 1803. His Will is available through the National Archives.

Figure 5. Two advertisements for Mr Hopkins. The first from 1803, the second from 1816. Both from the Morning Post (16th August 1803 and 5th January 1816).

John Hopkins continued his father's business, he advertised that continuation from August 1803 (Morning Post, 16th August 1803, see Figure 5). He occupied the same premises at Coach-Maker's Hall until 1819, with almost the same advertisement used continuously throughout (Morning Chronicle, 30th September 1819) though adding references to the Quadrille from mid 1816. He left Coach-Maker's Hall c.1820 and instead advertised his services from his personal address for the following decade, until his eventual insolvency in 1830. In 1831 he advertised tuition of the Mazurka, Gallopade, Quadrilles, Waltzing at a temporary location until his Premises are repaired (London Courier and Evening Gazette, 30th December 1831). I've not found his name in print thereafter, though it appears that his son (Gattey Hopkins, b.1810) had emigrated to Australia by 1843. Perhaps they both left.

The Hopkins association with Button & Whitaker was brief, it's not clear why he only worked with them for a single year. They replaced Hopkins with Thomas Wilson, and continued working with Wilson for roughly a decade. The Hopkins choreographies for 1811 weren't anything special, their most unusual characteristic being the requirement to lead down 4 couples which appears in many of them. This Hopkinsian lead is sufficiently unique to distinguish his choreographies from almost any other published at the time. Wilson had his own preferred leading movement which was quite different. The general issue of leading in Regency era Country Dances is explored further in another of our research papers. Other unusual Hopkinsian figures include the turn short round figure, and the instruction to be still to the top.

Note: The music publishing company of Paine and Hopkins were active in London c1821-1836. This firm was run by a William Hopkins and John Paine; it's unclear whether William was related to John Hopkins.

Thomas Wilson, in-house choreographer c.1812-1824

Button & Whitaker started working with Thomas Wilson from around 1812. We've previously shared a brief biography of Wilson, and a list of his known publications. By 1812 Wilson was a successful dancing master who's influence was growing; he would go on to become the most prolific writer on dance related subjects the country had ever known, and a major influence on the modern understanding of Regency era dancing. He'd published his Analysis of Country Dancing in 1808, a book that documented Country Dancing in greater detail than had ever been seen before; and a major revision of that same book in 1811. Wilson had strong ideas about the correct system of Country Dancing, and a passion to coerce the public into following his conventions. Wilson had applied scientific methods to his analysis of Country Dancing; he believed that the humble Country Dance could, with a little effort, be engineered to perfection.

Wilson published his second major title in 1809, The Treasures of Terpsichore, a book containing suggested choreographies for over two hundred popular tunes. This book was deceptively important; he included two different sets of figures for most of the tunes, often in a dual single and double arrangement, but with no accompanying music. His provision of alternative figures encouraged his readers to suspend the otherwise implied link between the Tune and Figures; there was no single correct set of figures to dance to any given tune (at least in Wilson's system), his publication emphasised this in a way that most others didn't. We've explored this concept further in another research paper. Moreover, Wilson arranged his figures with mathematical precision and consistency; his figures worked in a way that many other published choreographies simply didn't. He also encouraged having fun with the figures, and introducing complex new arrangements if the company were willing. The book was a success. He printed supplements to it for both 1810 and 1811, and the entire work was republished in 1816.

Figure 6. Flyer for a Wilson Ball, 1809. Courtesy of the British Museum.

Perhaps either Button or Whitaker had read the revised Analysis of Country Dancing and were moved to provide a greater platform for Wilson to operate from; maybe they'd discovered the skill by which he arranged his figures; maybe they were disappointed by the bland arrangements that Hopkins provided; or maybe it was just blind luck that brought them together. Wilson wasn't linked to a specific publisher at this time, though he had sourced the music for his 1809 Treasures of Terpsichore primarily from the catalogues of a rival publisher, Skillern & Challoner. Perhaps both parties were looking around for a suitable partnership. The 1810 and 1811 supplements to Treasures of Terpsichore selected tunes from a wide cross-section of publishers, including from Button & Whitaker

Whatever the motivation, an alliance was formed. Wilson provided figures in his own characteristic style, as previously seen in his Treasures of Terpsichore, for almost all Button & Whitaker dance publications for the year 1812 onwards. He choreographed dances for their own imprints, those under the Thompson's brand, the Le Sylphe and L'Assemblée publications, and the numbered loose leaf editions of their Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes. In almost every case he provided both single and double arrangements of the figures. He choreographed figures consistently; for example, his lead down figures would always take 4 bars of music if normalised into long measure. Each publication carried his name on the cover, and many advertised his tuition and the availability of his books too. Wilson's name was strongly associated with the most copious and (arguably) highest quality producer of Country Dancing music in London, and both Wilson and Button & Whitaker will have benefited from this arrangement; they were so closely linked that I'm only aware of a single Country Dancing publication issued after 1812 which appears not have been choreographed by Wilson, that being the Thompson collection for 1814.

Wilson went on to publish other books through Button & Whitaker, and probably mentioned them obliquely in his 1816 Companion to the Ball-Room; commenting on the poor state of the Country Dancing industry he wrote: The Author, however, has the pleasure of knowing one or two publishers, men of talent, who have commenced writing their own dances; by which something beyond the usual standards may be expected to rescue these annual collections from the universal contempt with which they are treated, and the public will have a chance of getting something original and pleasing to the ear. This is probably a reference to John Whitaker, and such unusual arrangements as can be found in his 1816 Paddy Carey (with figures by Wilson) in the 30th edition of the Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes.

From 1816 the Wilson and Button & Whitaker alliance resulted in some rather more experimental dance publications being produced. An example can be found in their 31st edition of the Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes, which features an early example of a Quadrille. Wilson went on to publish his 1816 Quadrille Instructor through the company, along with some 1817 novelty dances such as La Batteuse, Le Mouinet, L'Etoile Cotillion, and the Favourite Spanish Contra Dance. Wilson didn't publish exclusively through Button & Whitaker, but he clearly relied on them heavily during 1816 and 1817. Later Country Dance collections would include examples of Wilson's Waltz Country Dances, Circular Quadrilles and Quadrille Country Dances, minor variants of the typical Country Dance which fused concepts from the new dance forms that were sweeping the nation. Wilsonian Quadrille Country Dance choreographies are quite rare, one can be found in The Wrestlers from Whitaker and Compy's Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1824. It's likely that there were further collaborative publications involving Wilson and Button & Whitaker, sadly the archival records are incomplete... do contact us if you know more.

It's difficult to gauge how influential the Button & Whitaker publications were two hundred years ago, even if (from a modern perspective) they were superior to most of the competition. Country Dance choreographies often (one might almost say usually) contain what appear to be errors, whereas Wilson's Button & Whitaker choreographies don't. The music seems to have been produced by competent composers, and the choreographies arranged for competent dancers - as a modern enthusiast I find the difference to be really quite significant.

Dating the Undated Dance Publications

Dating the 30+ editions of Button & Whitaker's loose leaf selections of Dances has been a challenge. None of them were explicitly dated on their covers, many were republished (perhaps several times), and they weren't published at consistent intervals of time. With a little puzzling an acceptable (to within around a year) dating strategy can be constructed.

Figure 7. Examples from the Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes series; numbers 18, 11, 9 and 8.

At least 33 editions of this publication were printed; the covers of several works indicate that they were intended to be Printed Quarterly on Sheets & paged onward for the convenience of Binding (e.g. see Twelve Elegant New Dances for the Year 1810, though the same text appears in many other works). A quarterly publishing cycle may have been anticipated, but insufficient editions were published for that to have been consistently achieved.

Two firm dates can be established. The 7th edition of the series was advertised in The Morning Post on the 10th November 1807: Number VII of Purday and Button's Fashionable Quarterly Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes, for the piano-forte. This sheet contains the celebrated Fairy Dance, as originally composed by Sanderson. and seven other by the same Composers (see Figure 8). The 30th edition was advertised (albeit by content rather than name) in The Morning Post on the 24th January 1816: PADDY CAREY - The above popular AIR may now be had arranged as a COUNTRY DANCE by the Composer, Mr. Whitaker, with single and double Figures. Price 1s. By Mr. WILSON. Printed by Button and Co, 75 St. Paul's Church-yard. It's probable that the 7th and 30th editions were published shortly before they were advertised, and that the subsequent publications (the 8th and 31st) were printed some time thereafter.

One of the more obvious dating clues is that the editions were published sequentially; so if we can establish dates for two numbered editions, we can estimate dates for the editions between those dates. It's not an ideal system, but it can be very useful. It's a technique we've previously commented upon when investigating the 1820s Quadrilles of Joseph Hart. But as we'll see, the assumption that editions #8 to #29 were distributed evenly over time (between the dates established for #7 and #30) results in inaccuracies.

A more useful clue comes from the covers of Button & Whitaker's other publications, several of which indicated how many editions of the series were available at time of publication. This reveals the following pattern:

• 24 Country Dances for 1809 indicated that #1-#10 were already published.
• 24 Country Dances for 1810 indicated that #1-#13 were already published.
• Thompson's 24 Country Dances for 1811 indicated that #1-#13 were already published.
• 12 Country Dances for 1810 indicated that #1-#14 were already published.
• 12 Country Dances for 1811 indicated that #1-#14 were already published.
• 12 Country Dances for 1812 indicated that #1-#17 were already published.
• 24 Country Dances for 1813 indicated that #1-#20 were already published.
• Thompson's 24 Country Dances for 1813 indicated that #1-#20 were already published.
• Le Sylphe for 1814 indicated that #1-#24 were already published.
• Thompson's 24 Country Dances for 1814 indicated that #1-#24 were already published.

Some of the tunes published in the editions are named after historical events and can't have been issued much prior to that event. For example, the 6th edition contains a reference to the play Tekeli that was produced at Drury-Lane from November 1806. Several tunes in the 12th edition are named after Drury-Lane plays of late 1808. The 19th edition includes a tune named Regent's Reel, the Regency proper began in 1811. The 30th edition refers to the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. Such ties provide additional dating clues.

Yet another clue can be found from investigating publications by Thomas Wilson. His Treasures of Terpsichore for 1811 included three tunes he claimed to have sourced from Button & Whitaker publications; they came from the 14th and 15th editions, the 15th edition must have existed early enough to have been included. He also included some tunes from Button & Whitaker in his Treasures of Terpsichore for 1810, three of which were from the 14th edition; the 14th edition must have been published early enough to have been referenced by Wilson.

Figure 8. Advert for Button & Purday's New Dances, Morning Post, 10th November 1807.
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

Some information can be inferred from comparing the tunes and figures to other Button & Whitaker publications. For example, it's noticeable that the 16th, 17th and 18th editions include figures choreographed by Mr Hopkins (though uncredited as such) and derived from their 1811 publications. The 21st edition is clearly identified as having been choreographed by Mr Wilson, but only half of the content appears to genuinely be Wilsonian; this hints that it may have been published shortly after Wilson started working with them, and before he had chance to choreograph all of the figures for the collection.

The first seven editions were originally published when the company was known as Purday & Button. Most of the early editions I've studied were reprinted under the name Button & Whitaker, but footnotes still refer to the earlier business name. The 30th and 31st editions were published by Button, Whitaker & Company, implying a publication date after George Beadnell had become involved (and perhaps after he'd left).

One further date is known and it's perplexing. A review in the New Monthly Magazine for October 1817 described the 23rd edition as a New Musical Publication. The problem is that the 23rd edition can't have been published that late, not when the Le Sylphe publication for 1814 indicated that 24 editions already existed at the date it was published. The review named one of the tunes from the collection as The Grand Duke Nicholas's Waltz, a tune that doesn't exist in the 23rd edition (it appears to reference the Duke's state visit in late 1816). I now know that the review misprinted the edition number, it should have referred to the 32nd edition as being newly published in 1817. The Repository of Arts for January 1818 also carried a review of the 32nd edition, it consisted of five waltzes; the review adds: as the staves are uncommonly crowded, and the music is really good in the main, and well calculated for mere practice, the price of one shilling must be deemed extremely moderate.

Addenda: some further dates can be established from the 1815 Platts versus Button & Whitaker dispute; according to their sworn testimony of the co-partners, the 4th edition was published in September 1806, the 16th in May 1811, the 18th in February 1812, the 21st in February 1813, and the 24th also in February 1813. It seems improbable that both the 21st and 24th numbers would both be published in the same month, it's likely that there's a small mistake in their testimony.

Combining all of this information together results in a probable publishing pattern. I estimate that three or four editions were issued most years from 1806 to 1814, with just a single edition in 1810, perhaps two editions in 1811, a single edition in 1815, two in 1816, and one more in 1817. Further editions may have been published after 1817, but I lack the evidence to speculate further. These dates aren't established fact but they're probably accurate to within one year, which is the degree of accuracy I find useful in order to compare catalogues between publishers. The list of publications, with their estimated dates of first publication, can be found below.

Legal Concerns

Button and his partners, like many other music publishers in the 1810s, began to take an active interest in defending their business through law. They advertised in 1807 that they had purchased the copyright for The Fairy Dance for a considerable sum (The Star, 3rd July 1807) from James Sanderson, and warned their competitors that copying it would result in an action against them. Their c.1808 9th edition started to identify specific tunes as being subject to copyright, the c.1809 14th edition was the first to be entirely marked as subject to copyright. In 1812 the composer William Reeve published letters in the press in support of Button and Whitaker in relation to a song of his named Robin Adair. Reeve had sold the copyright to them, and was warning the public against purchasing any of the eight piratical or fraudulent copies he knew of (for example, Morning Chronicle, 7th January 1812).

We've previously investigated John Whitaker's expert testimony in an important 1818 copyright trial between Christopher Gerock and John Charles White. That Paper explores the general issues in greater detail than can be covered here, suffice to say that it wasn't their only brush with the law. Button & Whitaker appear to have been strong proponents for copyright, so it's a little ironic that they too would be accused of misconduct in 1815.

There could have been many such cases, but one encounter with the composer and publisher James Platts was reported upon in the press in 1815, we've investigated it in detail in another paper. Button & Co had published a comic song named Paddy Carey c.1810, they issued a Bill of Complaint against Platts in December 1814 for having adapted it into a Country Dance and sold copies without their permission. It seems that they won their case, but a short while later Platts issued a reciprocal complaint against Button, Whitaker & Beadnell. The chronology of what happened next is complicated; Platts issued a Bill of Complaint in June 1815 involving several different tunes he alledged had been copied from him without permission, Button & Co responded a few weeks later offering a strong defence (and noting that Platts had not established his ownership of the Tunes in his Bill); Platts modified his claim in July 1815 to add the missing information. The injunction was refused on procedural grounds because Platts had not made an affidavit of title in a timely fashion. A detailed report of the proceedings was printed in the Public Ledger & Daily Advertiser for the 28th July 1815 (see Figure 9):

Figure 9. Button & Whitaker in Court, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 28th July 1815.
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

Mr Hart stated this to be a motion on the part of the plaintiff for an injunction to restrain the defendants, who are music sellers in St. Paul's Church-yard, from publishing five dances which the plaintiff (another music-seller) declared to be his property. The plaintiff's affidavit set forth that in 1799 he had composed a dance called Zodiac, or Zoic's new Dash; that in 1801, he composed another dance called Michael Wiggins; that in 1806 he purchased of Mr Nicholson the copyright of a dance composed by that gentleman, called Hemley Castle; in 1814 he purchased the copyright of a dance composed by a Mr. Branmer, called the Saxon dance; and subsequently that of a dance composed by Lady Ashbrook, called Fern-hill, or the Tank. These dances he accused the defendants with pirating, by publishing them, with some variations, in a periodical music work of theirs, entitled Button and Whitaker's Collection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes.

Mr. Trollope followed on the same side, and in the course of his argument mentioned the word Waltz.

The Lord Chanceller said, Pray, Mr. Trollope, have the goodness to explain to me what a Waltz is?

Mr. Hart said it might be rather difficult to explain in words what a Waltz was, but he had no doubt Mr. Trollope would shew his lordship the motions of the dance.

Sir S. Romilly, for the defendants, contended, that the plaintiff had made no affidavit as to his title in these dances until after the affidavits of the defendants had been put in. The defendants swore, that they copied the dances in question from publications of Mr. Clementi, Mr. Preston, and other respectable music sellers; and besides that, they did not believe them to be so late compositions as the plaintiff had represented them to be. The defendants also swore, that they did not believe this injunction would have been moved for if they had not warned the plaintiff against pirating a dance composed by them, called General Kutusoff.

The Lord Chancellor refused the injunction, and said, that if the plaintiff wished for any remedy, he must bring the action against the defendants. He refused the motion for an injunction because he could not determine whether the compositions claimed by the plaintiff were original or not; and more especially, because he had not made his title to them until he had seen the affidavits of the defendants in answer.

This motion excited the general mirth of the Court.

It's interesting that Button and Whitaker claimed to have copied the tunes from the rival publications of Clementi and of Preston, implying that this was a common activity between publishers. Presumably neither Clementi nor Preston had indicated that the tunes were subject to copyright, such that Button & Whitaker had believed them to be free of any encumbrance.

Button & Co's Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes

The table below contains a list of Button & Whitaker's numbered editions of their selections of dances, reels and waltzes. Links are included where available, as are my best estimate of the publication dates. If you have copies of any of the missing collections, do consider scanning or photoing them, and sharing the images with the community of enthusiasts who enjoy recreating these dances. If you'd like assistance in doing that, please Contact Us. It'd be great if enthusiasts could view these publications without having to visit a research library!

Button & Co's Dated Country Dance Collections

The table below contains a subset of the Purday & Button and Button & Whitaker publications that are explicitly dated for a given year, together with those of their immediate successor companies. It only includes the works that I've been able to study, including those under the Thompson's brand; it omits the separate series printed for Mr Gray by Thompsons from 1803 (they span the period of time both before and after the transfer of Thompson's assets to Button & Purday). There are numerous gaps in the sequence. Links are included where available; if you have copies of any of the missing collections, do consider scanning or photoing them, and sharing the images with the community of enthusiasts who enjoy recreating these dances. If you'd like assistance in doing that, please Contact Us, we'd be happy to help.

I'm a fan of the Button & Whitaker Country Dances, especially in the format published in their L'Assemblée series of publications. The music is interesting, the figures fit the music (and they are described in detail in Wilson's various books), the strain separators in the dance notation are accurate and useful, the range of figures employed are interesting, multiple arrangements are provided for most of the tunes... there's a lot to like about them. But fashion moved on, and Button & Whitaker faded away. They weren't the only publisher of social dances in the 1810s, many others were also in business, some of whom better responded to the changing tastes of the London public.

We'll end this investigation here. Do please Contact Us if you have further information to share, we're always keen to learn more.