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Full calf, 14 x 8.3 cm (5 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches), joints fine, lacks the front & rear blanks, title page torn with loss at top corner. 314 (of 324) pp., lacking the ending of the final hymn and the entire table of first lines; leaf 177-78 torn with loss of a few letters; several leaves with closed tears or chips with no loss of text. Shaw & Shoemaker 41044."Baptist congregations in this period had an active devotional life beyond Sunday worship. Evangelistic meetings, revivals, conference meetings, and social worship all called for less formal hymnody, often characterized as 'spiritual songs.' Collections of these texts, often linked with folk tunes, were also used for services in churches that worshiped in a more popular style.The continuance of the awakenings is reflected in the Selection of Hymns [Greenfield MA: Ansel Phelps, 1817] by Paul Himes and Jonathan Wilson. The compilers, identified simply as 'Elders' on the title page, assembled 221 texts. The orientation of the book is exemplified by hymn 58, 'Come all who are New Lights indeed,' which uses the term 'New Light(s)' sixteen times in eleven stanzas. Anna Beeman's 'What think ye, my friends, of the preaching of John' and 'In Jordan's tide the baptist stands.' which uses the word 'immersion' to describe the baptism of Jesus, are other examples of the book's emphasis on the new birth and the rite of Christian initiation. This book was reprinted in 1818 and 1823." - Music & Richardson, "I Will Sing the Wondrous Story", p. 166 & 169.With a signed provenance card from the collection of A. Merril Smoak, Jr., DWS. Seller Inventory # 8522
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