Waters, Horace. The Sabbath-School Bell : No. 1. A New Collection of Choice Hymns and Tunes, Original and Standard: carefully and simply arranged as Solos, Duetts, Trios, Semi-Choruses and Choruses, and for Organ, Melodeon or Piano. New-York: Horace Waters, (1862). Enlarged Edition. [11492]
Red cloth spine, printed paper over card, small oblong 4 3/4 x 6 inches. Binding is edge-worn and soiled. Lacks the front blank and begins at the title page, which is nearly detached. [ii], 141, [3] pages, light foxing; rear paste-down scuffed with some loss. Fair. Hardcover.
The copyright is 1859; "The unprecedented favor with which the Sabbath School Bell has been received...during the first 31 months of its publication...induced the publisher to add 89 new tunes and hymns to the bound book..."
Horace Walters (1812-1893), New York hymn & sheet music publisher; retailer and manufacturer of pianos, organs and melodeons. He was for many years a deacon at the Trinity Baptist Church on East Fifty-fifth Street. He was known for his "sterling character and devotion to the advancement of the work of the church...Both of us were strong in our convictions when once they had fully matured, and neither of us was accustomed to refrain from making them known, no matter how slight might be their popularity...I have known very few men, indeed, who carried in their own character so many of the sterling excellencies of a real Christian nature as Horace Walters. I regard Brother Water's life as a living commentary upon the precepts and principles of the New Testament. I never knew personally a more active Christian man in my life than Horace Walters." - Dr. Thomas Armitage, speaking at the memorial service, as recorded in The New York Times, May 24, 1893.
