Although no date is given for this iconic volume, we can infer a 1912 date of publication. An announcement in the Yeran-published periodical Ameriga (see entry above) informs the public about “a unique book in coming in January that has never been published yet in Armenian” and inviting them “to send their favorite five songs (original, published, or nonpublished) until end of the September.” However, the first public announcement of the book that we have seen is in the January 1, 1913, issue of the newspaper Azk (Ազգ). According to advertisements we have seen in Hayrenik’, the second printing appeared in 1914; a third followed ca. 1925.
Containing more than 500 songs and poems, “azkayin, heghap‘okhagan, grōnagan, erkitsagan” (national, revolutionary, religious, satirical), this book went through several printings, always retaining its striking and recognizable cover. Unlike the artwork for most of Yeran’s publications, this cover has a visible signature: N. G. Tourounjian [Ն․ Կ․ Թուրունճեան]. This would appear to be Nishan George Tourounjian/Tooroonjian, a Kharpert-born immigrant who worked in California as a sculptor and as a
typesetter for Asbarez.
Yeran set out the rationale and his ambitions for the songbook in the book’s Foreword:
For years we wanted to see a folk songbook that could satisfy all classes of people with its luxuriousness and versatility … and bring honor as a printed work to its owner.
Indeed, after the Turkish constitution [in 1908], numerous songbooks have appeared, almost all of them small, one-sided and poorly printed, the editors of which have changed the style and spirit of the songs with a strange tenderness so as not to upset our Turkish compatriots. They changed them so much that even their creators would not recognize them.
In our opinion, the editor of a songbook is equal to a historian. The only difference is that while the latter faithfully records reality, the editor summarizes the national emotions expressed in connection with this reality in a volume. Similarly, would it not be ridiculous for a historian to try to attribute the Adana massacre to the Persians because they were thought to be more distant, weaker, and therefore harmless? By distorting the spirit of the songs, we not only go against the historians but also mislead future students of history.
We put the songs in our songbook as the authors wrote them, and not as we would have liked them to be written in the present circumstances. … Our songbook reflects like a perfect mirror the past and present of the Armenian nation—”yesterday” with all its Hamidian riots, and “today” with the hymns of brotherhood and equality.