The collection consists of printed and manuscript music for string bass, from Performing Arts Special Collections of Jay Grauer and Herman Reinshagen.

Herman Reinshagen played in the New York Philharmonic as Assistant Principal to Ludwig Manoly, and then Principal. He retired in 1934 and moved to California where he was head of the bass department at the University of Southern California. His many pupils included Gary Karr, Fred Zimmermann, Jay Grauer, Milton Kestenbaum, the principal bass of the NBC Symphony under Arturo Toscanini, Henry Lewis, bassist and former conductor of the New Jersy Symphony. At one time, the entire bass section of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 10 players with principal bassist Richard Kelley, were pupils of Reinshagen

Property rights in the physical objects belong to the Performing Arts Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish if Performing Arts Special Collections does not hold the copyright.

The collection is open for research.