The Bay Psalm Book and Harvard Hymnody

The Bay Psalm Book, which was printed here in Cambridge three hundred years ago this summer, is something much more significant than a bibliographical rarity or a literary curiosity. Its early editions are, of course, choice items of Americana for collectors, and its verse, which at first sight seem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Harvard theological review 1940-07, Vol.33 (3), p.225-237
Main Author: Foote, Henry Wilder
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Church music
Divinity
Hymnals
Hymns
Musical register
Praise songs
Psalms
Singing
Vocal music
Online Access:Get full text
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Description
Summary:The Bay Psalm Book, which was printed here in Cambridge three hundred years ago this summer, is something much more significant than a bibliographical rarity or a literary curiosity. Its early editions are, of course, choice items of Americana for collectors, and its verse, which at first sight seems so uncouth, has provoked the derision or sarcasm of unsympathetic critics who have done no more than glance at it. Unfortunately most people know little more about the book than these widely publicized facts. But the Bay Psalm Book deserves respectful consideration on other and better grounds, for it is the earliest literary monument of the English-speaking colonists on this continent; it is a key to an understanding of their religious life; and it was the fountain-head of that great stream of later American hymnody of which it is the direct spiritual ancestor.
ISSN:0017-8160
1475-4517
DOI:10.1017/S0017816000018733