Part of my home liturgy includes Hymns Ancient and Modern (1922 edition, 779 hymns). In addition to my 1922 HA&M edition, I find the following online resources to be beneficial. ***** A History of Hymns Ancient and Modern, by Richard William Wilkinson (Ph.D thesis, 1985, University of Hull, 380 pages). Page 1 (located after the summary and preface) includes a list of the various editions of HA&M (1861-1983). The thesis goes on to review the history of the various editions as the proprietors made additions of hymns, revisions to hymn texts or tunes, and withdrew hymns in later editions. Reading Wilkinson's thesis is recommended to any student of the HA&M calvercade of editions. ***** A Historical Companion to Hymns Ancient and Modern, 2nd edition. (1903, Cambridge University Press, 424 pages). This resource describes the contributions to HA&M from various church traditions. The resource presents the original language texts of the various hymns in HA&M, as well as how the original hymns may have been used. I find it very enlightening to study the HA&M rich heritage. ***** Hymnary.org has a rich data base of over 6,000 hymn books. Several of the HA&M editions are included in this data base. Again, I recommend this resource to students of HA&M. ... Cooper
Thanks for the link to Wilkinson's thesis. I've skimmed through it and found it rather interesting particularly concerning Walter Frere's involvement. Frere was a Bishop of my diocese during the 1920's and 30's. I was amused by the scathing criticism of A&M by the Evangelical wing of the CofE who described it as an ecclesiastical monstrosity full of Romish superstition and Mariolatry! I've never thought of it in quite that way. We used A&M at my parish church until a few years ago (still have the books) but now use the rather ghastly 'Anglican Hymn Old and New' where 'Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war' has been replaced with 'Onward, Christian pilgrims, Christ will be our light.' I personally prefer the English Hymnal as it's more liturgically useful. (Plus the fact that I have a soft spot for Percy Dearer who was the editor.)
Symphorian, thank you for your reply. In my home hymnal library, I have a copy of The English Hymnal (revised edition, 1933, Oxford University Press, printed 1976, 19th impression). I guess this is the same English Hymnal that is your personal favorite, as it credits Percy Dearmer as General Editor of the 1906 first edition. I seem to remember Wilkinson including The English Hymnal in his thesis on HA&M. ***** Here is a link to an online copy of Percy Dearmer's The Parson's Handbook (1899). TPH is also available from Amazon as a paperback (2017, Erewash Press Annotated Edition) and a Kindle version. I added the Kindle version of TPH to my Kindle library. ***** After I complete the current pass through HA&M (1922), I plan to do a pass through TEH (1933). At that time, I may do some side reading in the Kindle version of TPH. ***** Thank you again. ... Cooper