I have and older very small church hymnal book.....

Hi. I thought I would try this out to help figure out this book. It's small , 2"x4" church hymnal book. There's more to the cover, just hard to make out. It's in horrible shape but I'm curious to what it is exactly. If anyone can help, please share!

 

Does it say Common Prayer above Church Hymnal?

Personal copy for an Episcopalian parishioner, I'd think. "Pocket copy."

 

Bakersgma, exactly what I thought too (about "Common Prayer").

I was in the process of asking if there was a "title page" before I got the message about "other messages posted (or some such)."

So I'll type my question again: Is there a "title page" inside the front cover?

 

Yes it's very possible it says that. I'm not religious so I'm not familiar with this area. It talks about the Church of England, I'll attach the picture. I'm not sure if that is in every bible

 

Sadly this is so beat up, I don't see a cover page. The last picture I posted is on the bottom of the page, but the header of the page says the preface(then unfortunately the rest of the corner is gone

 

Church of England is what the US "Episcopalian" church came from. Same difference.

 

Really interesting language on that page, Chrissy.

"the growth of Anabaptism" "licentiousness of the late times"

"the baptizing of Natives in our plantations"

Sounds a lot earlier than I would have thought!

 

Is there any way to figure how old this is?

 

From language at the top of the page, this preface refers to revisions and additions. So some kind of history of the evolution of the Book of Common Prayer might help with the date.

 

Here's what's on the back of that page

 

Well, I would venture to guess that that is the "Original Preface" with the dates shown. The book isn't nearly as old as those dates might imply.

 

Well, the last major revision was in 1662, although a replacement book came into being in the 20th century (probably within my lifetime.) So that part we've been looking at isn't going to tell us when your little book was published.

 

Maybe this will help put it in a certain time period?

 

Or could you tell by the binding and the edges of the paper?

 

All I can say is, it's more recently published than 1873 (based on that date being referenced in the Preface shown in your last picture.)

 

And a bit later on that page there is a sentence which reads in the tenth line down: ". . . was laid before the Gene(ral?) Synod and approved in April, 1891 (emphasis added)."

 

I'm not finding it online at all that looks like that. Is there any significance with the "Dublin"

 

Yes, in the sense that this copy was apparently produced for sale under the auspices of the Church of Ireland by a rather imposing sounding organization - The Association for Discountenancing Vice and Promoting the Knowledge and Practice of the Christian Religion. At least that's what it seems to say on that page.

That second Preface calls it the "Irish Church Hymnal."

 

If you want an "interesting read" . . . go to Page 39 in the link at the bottom of this page and look under the heading "Educational Societies and Other Agencies for the Benefit of Children."

Under that heading is information and then is: "1. Association for the Discountenance of Vice and for the Promotion of the Knowledge and Practice of the Christian Religion."

And under that paragraph is: "Office: 37 Dawson Street, Dublin"

https://books.google.com/books?id=MNYHAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA40&lpg=RA1-PA40&dq=the+depository+37+dawson+street+dublin&source=bl&ots=cZqasPdoDQ&sig=sPoh4Cuo-SH8DZsv05sTrvFQLJY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjlitiygsDOAhWI9x4KHVLPB_IQ6AEIQDAI#v=onepage&q=the depository 37 dawson street dublin&f=false

 

While it may be old...the condition will kill most of it's value.