Beecher, Henry Ward. Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the Use of Christian Congregations. New York: A. S. Barnes & Burr, 1859. [12228]
Brown leather binding decorated in black, rubbed and worn with some loss of the leather backstrip, 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches, tight. xii., 507 clean pp. Fair. Hardcover.
"Electrotyped by Thomas B. Smith...Printed by George W. Wood..." on the copyright page.
The Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes (1855) was named for Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York, where Henry Ward Beecher was pastor. It is recognized as the first "modern" hymnal featuring the combination of hymns and tunes in one volume, in a regular book rather than in an oblong format.
"The book here presented to Christians and Churches numbers more than thirteen hundred hymns, and three hundred and sixty-seven tunes. The work is the result of a conviction that Congregational Singing best answers the end of worship by means of song. A choir should not sing for the congregation, but incite them to sing, and lead the way." - Introduction.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), son of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, "began his ministry on the western frontier where he engaged vigorously in the labors of a revivalist. Asahel Nettleton had considerable influence over his life in those early years." - Roberts, Revival Literature: An Annotated Bibliography.
Beecher became probably the best-known and most popular American preacher in his day.
