This post was written by Jon Snyder, Ph.D., Access Services Coordinator in the Arts & Special Collections Research Center
Hymnals and hymnbooks have been intricately tied to the tradition of church music since the early days of the printing press. At Baylor University, the Arts & Special Collections Research Center has assembled an extensive collection of over 1,600 distinct hymnals, most of which are housed within the special collections. Of these, 805 hymnals are in the public domain and, therefore, eligible for digitization. As Baylor University seeks to establish itself as a leader in church music research and education, it became imperative to digitize this invaluable collection. This initiative would not only make the hymnals accessible in the reading room, but also facilitate their use in classrooms across the university and educational settings worldwide.
The digitization project began in 2022 with the selection of fifty hymnals for the first round of digitization, with an additional twenty-five selected for inclusion in 2024. The selection criteria were based on factors such as rarity, age, and condition, but the guiding principle for the initial phase was the perceived “importance” of the hymnals. Importance was determined through various criteria, including the inclusion of landmark hymns, such as those found in the Olney Hymnal (which first published the famous hymn “Amazing Grace”), significant milestone hymnals in the development of church music, such as The Whole Book of Psalmes Collected into English Meeter by Sternhold and Hopkins, and hymnals with notable influence in American church music, such as The Sacred Harp. After extensive deliberation, a diverse selection of fifty hymnals representing a broad range of European and American traditions was chosen to begin the digitization process. Subsequently, an additional twenty-five hymnals were selected to complement the initial set and fill gaps in the historical and geographical scope of the collection.
Before scanning could commence, the metadata for each hymnal—such as author, composer, title, and publication date—was meticulously cross-checked and refined. This was a critical step in ensuring the digital collection would be as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Due to the rarity of many of these hymnals, with some being incomplete or damaged, accurately determining metadata could sometimes be a complex task. A notable example from the collection is The Psalm-Singer’s Amusement (1781). Initially attributed to William Billings, a prominent early American composer, this hymnal was later found to include compositions created after Billings’ death in 1801. Further research revealed that the work was authored by Samuel Howe and published by his brother, John, three years after Billings’ passing. This instance underscores the importance of thorough research in ensuring the precision of metadata for each hymnal.
The Psalm-Singer’s Amusement
Another hymnal requiring in-depth research was The Easy Instructor, first published in 1801 by William Little and William Smith. This work is one of the earliest examples of shape-note music, a system designed to simplify sight-reading and facilitate musical instruction, particularly for individuals with little or no formal training. Shape-note notation enabled people to read music without understanding traditional staff notation, making it widely accessible. The Easy Instructor became one of the first widely distributed shape-note songbooks and played a pivotal role in shaping the tradition of American hymnody. Its influence was powerful in rural America, especially in the South, and it paved the way for later, more famous shape-note collections such as The Sacred Harp. Due to the numerous similar editions published over several decades, music scholars Irving Lowens and Allen P. Britton, developed a methodology to distinguish between them by identifying copyright owners, locations of printing, and specific hymn inclusions. Using these tools, Baylor’s copy of the Easy Instructor was recognized as “edition P,” published in 1817.
The Easy Instructor
Once the metadata was compiled, the hymnals were scanned using three different Zeutschel scanners: the ScanStudio A2, ideal for standard-sized hymnals, particularly those that could lay flat; the OS 14000 A0, designed for larger materials such as newspapers or oversized books; and the OS 14000 A2 with a new book cradle, suited for small or tightly bound materials. Despite differences in their specific functions, all three scanners utilized the same software application to edit and refine the images for digitization.
ScanStudio
After completing the first round of fifty digitized hymnals, several early-stage projects were developed to explore potential digital humanities applications. The digitized materials were first organized into a timeline using TimelineJS, a tool developed by the Knight Lab at Northwestern University. The materials were grouped into four categories based on their musical notation, allowing users to track the evolution of notation from simple text-only hymns to those with melody lines and, eventually, multi-part harmonies. Additionally, a map was created using StoryMapJS to visually represent the hymnals’ geographical origins, spanning Europe and the United States.
With fifty hymnals digitized and the foundational work of digital humanities established, it was decided to include the titles, first lines, and tunes for all hymnals in the collection. While some of this information was available from external resources, such as hymnary.org (a site supported by Calvin University and the Hymn Society), much of the data had not been compiled. They had to be recorded from the index or through painstaking page-by-page examination. As a result, users can now quickly identify hymnals containing a particular hymn or tune by searching the Quartex database.
Currently, seventy-five hymnals have been digitized with complete metadata, including their respective tunes and first lines of text. Five new digital humanities projects have been developed from this collection to highlight the significance of the materials. These projects can serve as standalone starting points for scholarly inquiry or provide a more comprehensive understanding of the collection. Each project also demonstrates the potential of digital humanities in engaging with digitized cultural artifacts.
The project’s initial phase consisted of creating timelines, each focusing on distinct geographic regions or musical trajectories. The first timeline centers on the First New England School, a significant movement in American church music history. This timeline traces the development of the school, highlighting prominent figures such as William Billings and Oliver Holden, and moves forward to include influential later composers such as Lowell Mason and Thomas Hastings. By mapping the evolution of these key figures and their contributions, the timeline offers valuable insight into the growth of church music in early America and its lasting impact on the broader hymnody tradition.
The second timeline traces the development of printed Christian song in the Southern United States, highlighting the diverse and interconnected traditions that shaped the region’s musical landscape. This timeline categorizes hymnals into four distinct yet concurrent trajectories, each reflecting a unique aspect of Southern religious and cultural life. These include shape-note singing, which originated in Northern educational contexts and was later adopted in the South; camp meeting gatherings, which became vital for religious revivalism; African American musical traditions, which contributed significantly to the evolution of sacred music; and early White gospel publications, which began to emerge as a distinct genre. Together, these four threads woven into the fabric of Southern hymnody encapsulate the musical and cultural transformations that took place from the period preceding the Civil War to the early years of the twentieth century.
The third timeline encompasses six significant Baptist hymnals, which trace the development of Baptist hymnody from the early nineteenth century to the present. This timeline begins with the earliest American Baptist hymnals, utilized in the early decades of the nineteenth century. It follows their evolution through the missionary movement, culminating in the more contemporary hymnals produced in the modern era. Robert H. Coleman, the music minister for the renowned Baptist pastor George W. Truett, published the final hymnal in this sequence. Despite the diversity of Baptist groups throughout the United States, a notable commonality among these hymnals is their connection to the Publishing Board based in Philadelphia, which played a pivotal role in their dissemination.
Building upon a system akin to the timelines developed by Knight Lab, the subsequent project involved the creation of a detailed map showcasing hymnals that were published in England. This initiative required identifying and including various elements, such as images of relevant sites, geolocations corresponding to the compilers or authors of the hymnals, and additional geographical data. The resulting map highlights the spatial concentration of significant hymnals within proximity and raises thought-provoking questions regarding the creation of specific resources outside the metropolitan centers. Such a project encourages further exploration of how geographic and social factors may have influenced the development and distribution of hymnals in England.
The final project related to the current collection of hymnals is a network map initially developed using Gephi, a powerful visualization software akin to Power BI or Tableau. However, due to Gephi’s limitations in terms of aesthetic customization, the project was subsequently exported as an SVG file. This allowed for greater flexibility in linking and editing within Inkscape. This vector graphics editor excels at handling SVG files and external links, similar to Photoshop but with more robust capabilities for such tasks.
Hymnal Influence Network Map
While some aspects of influence between the hymnals’ creators could be inferred from the physical items themselves, additional research was conducted to construct a comprehensive table of influence. The interactive chart below illustrates the complex web of relationships among the creators featured in our collection, offering a visual representation of their interconnected contributions.
- Arrows indicate the direction of influence, clarifying which creators inspired others.
- Bidirectional arrows highlight instances of collaboration or parallel work between individuals.
- Clickable images allow direct access to pages showcasing the hymnals each individual created.
Please note that images without active links are pending upload and will be updated shortly. Users can expand the entire chart to full screen for more in-depth exploration, allowing them to explore these influential figures’ intricate connections and contributions to hymnology.
With the completion of this initial collection of seventy-five digitized hymnals, accompanied by several innovative projects that demonstrate their potential applications for scholarly research, we are eager to continue expanding this valuable digital resource. Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to add at least fifteen items, several already included in the network image. These forthcoming additions will further enrich the collection, ensuring its continued growth and relevance. As this resource evolves, it will serve as a vital tool for classroom instruction and academic research and an accessible archive for anyone interested in the study and appreciation of hymnody.