The Dead Men’s Song: being the Story of a Poem and a Reminiscent Sketch of its Author Young Ewing Allison, Together with a Browse Through Other Gems of His and Recollections of Older Days, by Champion Ingraham Hitchcock.
This is the story of the poem Derelict with appropriately gruesome woodcut illustrations, including facsimiles of sheet music written for (part of) the poem (originally published in 1891).
Thanks to the fabulous David Newman for his transcription of the music to A Piratical Ballad. You can see the whole thing at PG, but if you want to practice your singing, see my page: A Piratical Ballad.