Hymns, composed By Different Authors, at the request of the General Convention of Universalists of The New England States and Others Adapted to public and private devotion.

Ballou, Hosea; Kneeland, Abner; Turner, Edward

Published by Printed for the Committee, by Samuel T. Armstrong, Charlestown, (Mass.), 1810

Full leather with some cuts and scratches, yet with good joints. 14.2 x 9 cm (5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches), lacks all free end papers (blanks). (i)-iv, (5)-16, 21-36, 39-260 pp., with stains & foxing. Lacking the 3 leaves as noted; includes the index at end. A hymnal intended to replace that of Isaac Watts, whose orthodox views of sin, eternal punishment, and atonement the Universalists found objectionable. A complete copy would have 415 selections plus index. This second edition has 5 more hymns than the first.Rev. Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), born at Richmond, New Hampshire. His father was the pastor of the Baptist Church in that place, but Hosea was expelled from the church due to his embracing Universalist and Unitarian views. At the age of twenty-one he became an itinerant preacher of these doctrines, becoming a settled minister at Dana, Mass., in 1794. He was the pastor several churches before accepting a call to the Second Universalist Society in Boston. Rev. Ballou was "an industrious writer." He began the Universalist Magazine, the Universalist Expositor, and published numerous doctrinal and controversial works.Abner Kneeland (1774-1844), born at Gardner, Massachusetts. Kneeland began as a Baptist lay preacher, was led into Universalism, and remained an effective advocate for that cause until 1830 when he adopted a Pantheistic creed and was formally disfellowshipped by the New England Universalist General Convention. Kneeland was actually brought up on a criminal charge for his views, and holds the distinction of being the last man convicted of Blasphemy by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1836). Five trials ensued, and Kneeland spent sixty days in the Boston jail in 1838. Edward Turner (1776-1853), b. Medfield, Massachusetts, "ranked second only to Hosea Ballou among Universalist ministers of his generation. He was a denominational organizer, a celebrated preacher, and the first historian of Universalism." - Hughes, Peter. "Edward, Turner," Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography, an on-line resource of the Unitarian Universalist Studies Network.With a signed provenance card from the music collection of A. Merril Smoak, Jr., DWS. Seller Inventory # 9962

Bibliographic Details

Title: Hymns, composed By Different Authors, at the...
Publisher: Printed for the Committee, by Samuel T. Armstrong, Charlestown, (Mass.)
Publication Date: 1810
Binding: Full leather
Condition: Fair
Edition: Second Edition.