Linsley, James H.; Davis, Gustavus F. Select Hymns, adapted to the Devotional Exercises of all Evangelical Denominations. Turbotville, Pa.: Henry Miller, 1854. Stereotyped Edition. [8929]
Full sheep with red calf title label, joints cracked, end paper hinges firm, 11 cm (4 1/2 x 3 inches). Back cover with large black ink stain, ink stains to many latter leaves, generally only in the margins for text pages, index pages with stains in text. 416 pp., text complete. Fair. Hardcover.
Starr, A Baptist Bibliography, L2527.
James Harvey Linsley (1787-1843 and Gustavus Fellowes Davis (1797-1836), were both Baptist pastors in New England, with Linsley being "well known as a leader of conference meetings". They collaborated on this new hymnal; their Preface noting that they did not include any hymns from Winchell's Watts and that they desired to offer something new.
"Among the uses proposed for this collection of 543 hymns and seven doxologies...are family worship, sabbath school, temperance societies, tract societies, and peace societies. This list gives a sense of the scope of religious meetings beyond Sunday worship at which singing would have occurred. Though this is a words-only book, a tune - chosen, according to the preface, by Mr. B. C. Wade - is named for each text. The prominent Congregationalist writer Lydia Sigourney contributed several texts to Select Hymns. She also wrote an ode that was sung at Davis's funeral." - Music & Richardson, "I Will Sing the Wondrous Story", pp. 174-175.
With a signed provenance card from the collection of A. Merril Smoak, Jr., DWS.
