English Hymns of the Nineteenth Century brings together for the first time the most popular and widely used English hymns from that period, continuing the work of its foregoing volume, English Hymns of the Eighteenth Century, the genre's formative period. This annotated and edited collection of nearly 200 hymns (with author introductions and a general historical introduction) will be of inestimable value to scholars, students, and laypersons from several disciplines and interests: from hymnology to church and social history and theology, from political science to literature to popular culture. Hymns were the most widely read and memorized verbal structures from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - and in the nineteenth century the hymn became not only the property of dissenters, but also of representatives from the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. This anthology, therefore, provides unique and highly significant insights into the culture, beliefs, and habits of thought of a people and their spiritual leaders.

Examining nineteenth-century British hymns for children, Alisa Clapp-Itnyre argues that the unique qualities of children's hymnody created a space for children's empowerment. Unlike other literature of the era, hymn books were often compilations of many writers' hymns, presenting the discerning child with a multitude of perspectives on religion and childhood. In addition, the agency afforded children as singers meant that they were actively engaged with the text, music, and pictures of their hymnals. Clapp-Itnyre charts the history of children’s hymn-book publications from early to late nineteenth century, considering major denominational movements, the importance of musical tonality as it affected the popularity of hymns to both adults and children, and children’s reformation of adult society provided by such genres as missionary and temperance hymns. While hymn books appear to distinguish 'the child' from 'the adult', intricate issues of theology and poetry - typically kept within the domain of adulthood - were purposely conveyed to those of younger years and comprehension. Ultimately, Clapp-Itnyre shows how children's hymns complicate our understanding of the child-adult binary traditionally seen to be a hallmark of Victorian society. Intersecting with major aesthetic movements of the period, from the peaking of Victorian hymnody to the Golden Age of Illustration, children’s hymn books require scholarly attention to deepen our understanding of the complex aesthetic network for children and adults. Informed by extensive archival research, British Hymn Books for Children, 1800-1900 brings this understudied genre of Victorian culture to critical light.

Understanding the culture of living with hymnbooks offers new insight into the histories of poetry, literacy, and religious devotion. It stands barely three inches high, a small brick of a book. The pages are skewed a bit, and evidence of a small handprint remains on the worn, cheap leather covers that don’t quite close. The book bears the marks of considerable use. But why—and for whom—was it made? Christopher N. Phillips’s The Hymnal is the first study to reconstruct the practices of reading and using hymnals, which were virtually everywhere in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Isaac Watts invented a small, words-only hymnal at the dawn of the eighteenth century. For the next two hundred years, such hymnals were their owners’ constant companions at home, school, church, and in between. They were children's first books, slaves’ treasured heirlooms, and sources of devotional reading for much of the English-speaking world. Hymnals helped many people learn to memorize poetry and to read; they provided space to record family memories, pass notes in church, and carry everything from railroad tickets to holy cards to business letters. In communities as diverse as African Methodists, Reform Jews, Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, and Unitarians, hymnals were integral to religious and literate life. An extended historical treatment of the hymn as a read text and media form, rather than a source used solely for singing, this book traces the lives people lived with hymnals, from obscure schoolchildren to Emily Dickinson. Readers will discover a wealth of connections between reading, education, poetry, and religion in Phillips’s lively accounts of hymnals and their readers.

Anne Steele (1717-1778) was one of the most well-known and best-loved hymn-writers of the eighteenth century, and her hymns remained exceedingly popular until late in the nineteenth century, being reprinted regularly in hymnbooks throughout Britain and North America. She was the first major woman hymn-writer as well as the most popular Baptist hymn-writer in the history of the church. Despite this, she has been largely neglected as a subject of academic enquiry until now. This book aims to elucidate Steele's spirituality and to clarify her unique contribution to eighteenth-century hymnody. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, setting Steele's devotional expression in its theological, literary, and historical contexts, and providing comparison to other eighteenth-century figures. It uses archival sources to reconstruct her life and work, offers a close reading of her verse, and concludes that Steele made a significant and as yet underrated contribution to eighteenth-century devotional expression.

William Penn's promise of religious freedom brought many diverse religious groups to Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries. Each brought pre-existing hymns and hymn tunes, but many also wrote original texts and music. This book examines the hymns of the 1694 Wissahickon settlement under Johannes Kelpius, the 18th century Ephrata Cloister of Conrad Beissel, and the hymn life of the Bethlehem Moravian Unitas Fratrum. Among the later writers of hymn text or music selected for this study are William Kirkpatrick, John Wyeth, William Gustavus Fischer, Francis Hopkinson, Eleanor C. Donnelly, and many more. Sample texts are included for many hymns, and six musical scores are reproduced. Of special interest are the earliest texts and music from the Wissahickon and Ephrata communities. Pennsylvania's hymn background is unique and compelling. The stories of the writers and their hymns should appeal to anyone interested in hymns, theology, music, or American history. Dr. Lucy E. Carroll is currently organist and choir director at the Carmelite Monastery in Philadelphia, and Adjunct Associate Professor at Westminster Choir College in Princeton NJ. She was appointed Scholar in Residence by the PHMC for the Ephrata Cloister site, and she has served as a PHC Commonwealth Speaker. She is Research Chair for the Kelpius Society of Philadelphia. Her articles on music have appeared in many journals and periodicals, and her Churchmouse Squeaks cartoons appear monthly in the Adoremus Bulletin. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Dr. Carroll has served as organist, conductor, theatre director, educator, music coordinator, clinician and guest speaker. She chaired the music segment of the 1992 International Conference on Arts and Communication at St. John's College, Cambridge, England and was awarded the International Order of Merit.

Consider the worshipful lyrics of "Holy, Holy, Holy"; the comforting assurance of "His Eye Is On the Sparrow"; the trusting submission of "Have Thine Own Way, Lord"; the bold declaration made by "O for a Thousand Tongues." They are some of our greatest hymns--and some of the most powerful words in Christendom. Lyrics that help us grasp the reality of faith, set to beautiful music that speaks to our hearts. The stories behind the hymns are powerful as well. In this book the authors have detailed the intriguing and often tragic circumstances from which many of our best-loved hymns came. They are stories about the private struggles and personal triumphs these men and women hymn writers experienced--stories that give their already-meaningful songs added significance. Great Christian Hymn Writers is a wonderful resource for worship services, devotional talks, and home schools, as well as for use in your private devotions. And it's worthwhile reading for anyone who's interested in learning where these hymns came from and how it is that they continue to affect us so much.

(Lillenas Publications). A library of tools for worship planners, including scriptural allusions index, a concordance to the hymns, and additional planning helps.