(1854-1932) ‘The March King’, American bandmaster and composer of over 140 military marches. Superb A.M.Q.S. from his march ‘Hands across the Sea’, penned on an 8vo. sheet, signed and dated 1906. A collector has added a commemorative stamp at bottom, and set the quote, with an image of Sousa, into a 14 x 11 in. blue mat. ‘Hands across the Sea’ is an energetic march first performed in 1888. It is said to have been inspired by an incident in the Spanish-American War when British Naval Captain Sir Edward Chichester ‘stood by the Americans in Manila Bay at a time [of] friction between Admiral Dewey and the Germans…’ (New York Times, Sept. 18, 1906). According to Sousa, the march is more than a nod to a naval victory: it was his celebration of America’s friends abroad. In 1919, Sousa would describe the impetus of its creation: ‘…After the Spanish war there was some feeling in Europe anent our republic regarding this war. Some of the nations...thought we were not justified while others gave us credit for the honesty of our purpose. One night I was reading an old play and I came across this line, ‘A sudden thought strikes me,—let us swear an eternal friendship’. (Paul E. Bierley, The Works of John Philip Sousa (Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1984). Fine condition.