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.

Introduces and explains church music and congregational singing for beginners. Music is an essential element in Anglican worship; in fact, The Hymnal 1982 is used in virtually every Episcopal service of worship that involves singing. While most parishioners participate in music making at some level (such as singing hymns or common responses), fewer people might understand the specific genres that comprise the music of an Episcopal worship service or the liturgical meaning behind each selection. This book provides a more in-depth understanding of this rich and complex tradition, discussing the history and evolution of music within the Episcopal Church, including its Anglican roots. This book is designed to help clarify—and simplify—the importance of hymn singing and service music in Episcopal worship, as well as explain the history, structure, and content of The Hymnal 1982.making at some level (such as singing hymns or common responses), fewer people might understand the specific genres that comprise the music of an Episcopal worship service or the liturgical meaning behind each selection. This book provides a more in-depth understanding of this rich and complex tradition, discussing the history and evolution of music within the Episcopal Church, including its Anglican roots.

The complete four-volume set includes major essays and relevant discussions of the musical forms in The Hymnal 1982 which cover such topics as popular religious song, cultural diversity, the relationship between The Hymnal 1982 and the liturgies of The Book of Common Prayer, the development of service music in the Episcopal Church, hymn forms, and a brief history of Christian hymnody in the United States and Britain. In addition, complete information is given on all hymns and service music which includes the sources of text and music as well as biographical and technical facts. (2,949 pp)

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Lectionary scripture citations with corresponding hymns. This is also a handy reference for locating the liturgical day when each scripture text is used.