HYMNOLOGY

[B. H. Draper, Baptist hymn writer.] Autograph Letter Signed proposing to the nonconformist bookseller Josiah Conder an edition of Philip Henry’s sermons, from manuscripts, with reference to Sir John Bickerton Williams and John William Cunningham.

Author: 
B. H. Draper [Bourne Hall Draper] (1775-1843), hymn writer and Baptist minister [Josiah Conder (1789-1855), nonconformist bookseller; John Bickerton Williams; John William Cunningham; Philip Henry]
Publication details: 
‘Coseley, nr Bilstone, Staffordshire. / Dec. 20. 1815.’
£70.00

See his entry in the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, and Conder’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the second addressed on the reverse, with postmark, to ‘Mr. Josh. Conder, / Bookseller, / Bucklersbury, / London.’ In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, spiked, folded for postage, and with damage and slight loss to the second leaf from the breaking of the wafer. Begins: ‘Learning lately from my friend Mr. Williams of Shrewsbury, [the future Sir John Bickerton Williams (1792-1855)] that you had engaged with him for his MS.

[Isaac Watts.] Printed pamphlet: ‘The End of Time. / An Extract from Dr. Isaac Watts.’

Author: 
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), English Congregational minister, hymnologist (‘Godfather of English Hymnody’), theologian, and logician
Watts
Publication details: 
No date. ‘No. 4.’ The Religious Tract Society, instituted 1799, 56, Paternoster Row; and 65, St. Paul’s Churchyard. Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Duke street, Lambeth.
£120.00
Watts

Four copies on JISC (only one in a deposit library, NLS); now scarce. 12pp, 12mo. Disbound. Worn and discoloured. After the end of the prose work are two poems (pp.11-12): ‘Hymn. / Frail Life and Succeeding Eternity’ and ‘The Danger of Delay.’ In addition to being the ‘Godfather of English Hymnody’, Watts was a noted logician, producing a successful work on the subject, and despite the repetition of the phrase ‘Time shall end!’ throughout, the present extract treats the subject of ‘The End of Time’ in an unusually thoughtful way for a work of theology.

[‘English church music is in dire need of reform’: Sir Herbert Oakeley, Professor of Music at Edinburgh University.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘H. S. Oakeley’) to Sir Lovelace Stamer, attacking the ‘degraded’ standard of English hymn tunes.

Author: 
Sir Herbert Oakeley [Sir Herbert Stanley Oakeley; H. S. Oakeley] (1830-1903), English composer and organist, Professor of Music at University of Edinburgh [Sir Lovelace Tomlinson Stamer (1829-1908)]
Publication details: 
10 June 1875; Bristol Hotel, Brighton.
£100.00

A splendidly-forthright missive on a subject close to Oakeley's heart. See both men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The two were near-contemporaries at Rugby School, and Stamer, at the time of writing a Prebendary at Lichfield, would go on to become the Bishop of Shrewsbury. 8pp, 12mo. On two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged, with the two bifoliums folded twice and unobtrusively attached with tape. From the context it appears that Oakeley has been invited through Stamer to give a paper on church music to the Church Congress.

[ Ruth Ellis Messenger, hymnologist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Ruth E. Messenger') to 'Mr. Wilshire' [ Frederick Allen Wilshire ], thanking him for providing her with an 'open sesame' to the Inns of Court in London.

Author: 
Ruth E. Messenger [ Ruth Ellis Messenger ] (1896-1993), American hymnologist [ Frederick Allan Wilshire (1868-1944), Recorder of Bridgwater ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London W1. Undated, but marked as 'Rec[eive]d 17 . 7. 39. [ 17 July 1939 ]'
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with minor rust marking from a paperclip. She writes that she and her sister have that day 'worshipped at the Temple Church and enjoyed to the full all the delights that were spread before us, in that rare environment'. His cards have 'proved an "open sesame" wherever we went', and they have 'enoyed the Hall with its associations, and indeed, every bit of the section. Just to look at the courts and walls was an experience not to be forgotten'.

[Elizabeth Rundle Charles, Victorian author and hymn-writer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Bessie Charles') to 'Mrs Leader'

Author: 
Bessie Charles [ Elizabeth Rundle Charles ] (1828-1896), author of 'The Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family' (1862)
Publication details: 
7 Victoria Street, Westminster. 'Sunday' [no date].
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. With mourning border. In fair condition, on lightly aged and ruckled paper. Declining a dinner invitation and expressing regret at not being able to call, being 'very much occupied'.

Autograph Letter Signed to unknown male correspondent; Autograph Signed endorsement of 'Dr. Dick of Dundee'; and facsimile of letter of thanks to his 'Birth-day Benefactors'.

Author: 
James Montgomery (1771-1854), Scottish hymnwriter and poet
Publication details: 
The letter dated 29 May 1835, 10 New Palace Yard, Westminster; the endorsement dated 'The Mount, September 19. 1850'; the facsimile dated 'The Mount nr Sheffield, Nov. 4. 1851.'
£220.00

The letter (8vo, 1 p) is foxed, but otherwise very good. Had he not been 'engaged for ten days past to dine three or four miles off with an old acquaintance', whom it is too late to disappoint, he would have been happy to avail himself of the kind invitation. Sends best wishes and prayers to the recipient's family, 'from the elder to the youngest'.

A Selection of Psalms and Hymns, for the Use of the Congregation at Portland Chapel, St. Mary-la-Bonne.

Author: 
[the Portland Chapel, St. Mary-la-bonne [Marylebone], London; hymnology]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by W. Flint, Old Bailey; and may be had at the Chapel. 1804.
£200.00

12mo, 30 pages. In contemporary nonce-binding of brown boards tied with twine. Presumably incomplete, as sequential translations of only thirty psalms are present, ending with the hundred-and-fourth. Scarce: no copy in the British Library, and none on COPAC.

Syndicate content