My hymnal collection

[James]

I was looking today at one of my books on hymns. Its self proclaimed purpose is to list who in North America has hymnal collections which they want known to the public. The list is sorted by state giving the owner (institution or individual), number of hymnals and special emphasis of the collection. A few of us here would be in the top 100 if we listed our collections. Library of Congress leads the way with 16,000. Emory University in Atlanta, GA (my alma mater) is second with 15,000.

[Rvaughn]

What's the title of that book?

[James]

Hymnal Collections of North America. Published 2003.

[Haruo]

There's a different book called HymnBOOK Collections of North America, but it's not clear to me if one is a revision of the other or what.

[Rvaughn]

[Haruo]

Today, two copies of the 1873 edition of Christian Harmony (the 7-shape book compiled by William "Singin' Billy" Walker, earlier the compiler of the seminal 1835 4-shape book Southern Harmony) arrived in the mail, from two different sources.

David Flick sent me his old 1873 copy, which is beautiful, but too fragile to sing from properly. And simultaneously, a brand-new copy of the 2015 reprint arrived from the reprint people. Not near as spiritually steeped as David's but in perfect shape from which to sing. Now if I can find an 1873 CH singing...

It's not as thick a book as the 2010 CH folks usually sing from these days.

[Rvaughn]

[David Flick]

[Rvaughn]

[James]

Haruo, I am making progress. Media rate will be somewhere between $20 and $30 per box. I just put everything in two boxes. If this is all right with you, I will mail them Monday. If you are at your computer and respond promptly, I will get them in the mail today and send you the total cost minus $10.00.

[James]

Some oddities worthy of note.

My son, for the last 20 years has given me a hymnal to add to my collection. Usually he finds one I do not have. Last Christmas he gave me the Methodist Hymnal 1905. I had been looking for this hymnal for years. It was a much criticked volume. We take our hymn singing seriously in the South.

The New Baptist Hymnal,1926, was jointly published by the American Baptist and the Southern Baptist, I have both editions and count them as different books. They are identical in every way with one exception. The tune for Amazing Grace is New Britain arr by Excel and called McIntosh not New Britain. The tune is the American Baptist Hymnal uses the tune Warwick which sounds like a Victorian parlor tune. It is a pleasant tune but not memorable. The importance of this hymnal was that it was the chapel hymnal at SBTS for years even into my time there which was after the publication of the '56 hymnal. It was the first "modern" Baptist hymnal to contain "Amazing Grace" to the New Britain tune. I know of no other denominational hymnal predating the '26 hymnal to have the text and tune together. I think this hymnal is the reason that Amazing Grace is America's favorite hymn.

Somewhere in my gospel song collections is a book written by a hell and damnation sawdust trail evangelist who wrote his own songs for use in his revivals. The cheerful ditty I remember recall events that may have actually happened. I do not believe that anyone could have made this up. It seems that a young man--good looking, smart and wealthy went to the tent to see the show. As the invitation was given, the young man began to move forward in response. His sister pulled him back and he did not go. Later in the evening he was killed in a carriage accident. Second verse, the sister realizing that she was the cause of his early death in an unsaved state, ran into the forest never to be seen again. Third verse, the mother realizing that both events resulted from her failing as a parent went completely and permanently insane. Forth verse, you better come forward now. You may not get another chance.

Haruo, the book on collections says the U of Alaska has copies of hymnals of the indigenous peoples of Alaska in their own language.

I have another book of hymnology that gives the Wesley's credit for preventing a bloody revolution in England to match the one in France. All of their singing brought a change in the nations morality and attitude. No longer could five year old children come into a bar to get a refill for daddy's beer bucket.

The music of the great hymns and gospel songs have a power that I do not find in contemporary church music and I do not like the bouncing ball. I am a product of my generation. My hymnals from which I sang at Knight's Baptist and Second Ponce De Leon Baptists were the Modern Hymnal, the Broadman Hymnal, and the '26 and '56 Baptist Hymnals. Someone at church asked me if any of the new stuff would be in hymnals of 2050, if we still had hymnals. I said one might survive--Because He Lives by the Gaithers for the final phrase rings true in any age. "Life is worth the living just because He lives."

I think it is time to close now. If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

[James]

The 1873 facsimile edition has a short history of the Christian Harmony in all its variations.

[Rvaughn]

[Haruo]

As far as indigenous Alaskan hymnbooks go, I have one small collection in Tlingit. Would love to have some others.

[Rvaughn]

[James]

Rvaughn, I plead ignorance on the national Baptist hymnal. I have a few of them, but not the one you mention. Modern in this context means 20th cent. Other denominational hymnals in my collection do not add A.G. until later in the cent to my knowledge, but what I think I know may not be 100% correct.

[Rvaughn]

If just looking at modern as "20th century" then other hymnals outside the main Baptist bodies north and south included Amazing Grace with New Britain prior to 1926. C. H. Cayce's The Good Old Songs of 1913 is clearly intended as a denominational hymnal for Primitive Baptists, and it has the pairing. The Pilgrim's Hymnal, prepared for William H. Crouse in 1908 for the Progressive Primitive Baptists, probably had it. I say probably because I have never seen the first edition, but it is in later editions that I have seen with the tune name Harmony Grove (another name for the New Britain tune). Other Baptists in the south who compiled tune books likely used it if they were influenced by the shape note music of William Walker and B. F. White. In their book I Will Sing the Wondrous Story, Music and Richardson claim that William Walker in his 1835 Southern Harmony was the first to make a pairing of this hymn and tune.

I think all this in interesting, in that many people have assumed that Amazing Grace and New Britain have been wedded for time and eternity!

[Haruo]

What I want to know is what they sang it to at Olney.

[James]

The point that I have been trying to make (and not very well) is that Amazing Grace made its entry into the big five denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans) by way of the Baptist Hymnal of 1926. Yes it is in other hymnals but I do not believe the "main stream of American Protestantism" was heavenly influenced by Primitive Baptists or by Black Baptists in the first half of the 20th century. I did read somewhere that when the '56 hymnal was being compiled the preachers educated at SBTS insisted on the inclusion of Amazing Grace in new hymnal. These preachers learned to sing it and love it at SBTS and now it is the most well-known and popular hymn in America.

My favorite hymnal in my collection is the '56 hymnal. I lived with is and sung from it for nearly 50 years. I know it better than I know the Bible. So for all of you following this thread, what is your favorite hymnal?"

Second question, what in your opinion is the best hymnal? In my opinion, the best is the Mennonite Hymnal of 1992.

[Rvaughn]

[Haruo]

I didn't know the ABA (no, not the lawyers' guild!) had their own hymnal. I just ordered a copy.

I think the ABA was the outfit Moz was with, any old-timers here remember if I'm right on that?

[James]

RV, The Mennonite Hymnal you have is the immediate predecessor to the '92 hymnal. I have both in my collection. There is a book Singing from the Mennonite Press which details how the Ms put the book together. Every M congregation on earth was consulted on what hymns to put in the book.

Judy and I went to all of the community hymn sing in Newport News for about six years and learned much from them about what they sing and why they sing it. Most of the Ms knew nothing about the connection between the English decenters who became Baptist and Ms. We are kissing cousins in our approach to the Bible and to Singing.

In the hymnal you have #606 is a long fuging doxology. My favorite song leader among the Ms told me if he had to walk into a convention center with 5,000 in attendance and quickly had to identify the Ms present he would call 606. All the Ms present would stand and sing from memory.

[Haruo]

Pew hymnals in churches I have regularly attended include [i]Christian Worship[/i] (Northern Baptist/DOC), [I]讃美歌[/I] (United Church of Christ in Japan, 1954) and, in the Sunday School, [I]こどもさんびか[/I] (same, 1966), [I]The Hymnbook [/I] (Presbyterian, 1955), [I]Hymns for the Living Church [/I] (Hope, 1974), [I]Hymns for the Family of God[/I] (Paragon, 1976), [I]The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration Hymnal[/I] (Word, 1986; this is still the pew hymnal at Fremont Baptist), [I]讃美歌︙讃美歌第二編[/I] (UCCJ, 1970), [I]讃美歌21[/I] (UCCJ, 1995), and [I] Celebration Hymnal [/I] (Word, 1997); these last two are the current pew hymnals at Japanese Baptist. The Sacred Harp singings I attend overwhelmingly use the 1991 Denson Edition. All of these have contributed hymns and/or settings that I consider essential to my dream hymnal. I've never had the good fortune to live in one of the rare places with regular, in-person worship services in Esperanto. The sporadic services I have attended have used [I]Adoru kantante[/I] (KELI, 1971) and/or [I]Adoru: Ekumena Diserva Libro[/I] (IKUE/KELI, 2001). Both of these as well as several other Esperanto hymnals would also contribute to my dream hymnal. And among my 516+ hymnals, there are probably fifty or so other hymns that I wouldn't want to do without.

[Haruo]

I wonder why it's not accepting my italics.

[Rvaughn]