Old Songbooks

In the last decade of the 19th century a couple of songbooks were published for nostalgic readers. Most important and influential surely was Helen Johnson's Our Familiar Songs.  Five years later Henry Reddall's Songs That Never Die followed. These collections show nicely which songs had survived until the end of the century. Both books include interesting comments on these songs' history. Some of these introductory remarks should be read with considerable caution because they are based on apocryphal stories popular back then, as for example the one about "Robin Adair" . Others are still helpful.  

• Helen Kendrick Johnson, Our Familiar Songs And Those Who Made Them, New York 1889 (online at: The Internet Archive)
• Henry F. Reddall & Dudley Buck, Songs That Never Die. Being A Collection Of The Most Famous Words And Melodies, New York, ca. 1894 (available at The Internet Archive)

Some newspapers had special sections dedicated to old songs. One was the Family Herald And Weekly Star in Montreal. In 1898 they published a collection of songs presented there in the years 1895-98, often with music and interesting introductory remarks:  

• Old Favourites, Reprinted From The Family Herald And Weekly Star, Montreal 1898 (The Internet Archive)

Also worth reading  are S. J. Adair Fitzgerald's Stories Of Famous Songs. This had started as a series in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London) in 1894 but then was published as a book in 1898 and again in 1901. A second volume was added in 1910. He wrote about the history of songs like "Home, Sweet Home", "Robin Adair", "Auld Lang Syne" and many more; 

• S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald, Stories Of Famous Songs, 2 Vols, London & Philadelphia 1901 & 1910 (available at The Internet Archive: Vol. 1 & Vol. 2)

A decade later two songbooks were published that are also of interest:

• Charles Villiers Stanford (ed.), The National Song Book. A Complete Collection Of The Folk-Songs, Carols, And Rounds Suggested By The Board Of Education, London & New York c.1806 (The Internet Archive) 
• Dolores M. Bacon (ed.), Songs Every Child Should Know. A Selection Of The Best Songs Of All Nations For Young People, New York 1907  (The Internet Archive)

These were directed at teachers and children and also offer good selections of old songs.