Difference between revisions of "Emma Smith's Hymnal"

Latest revision as of 10:36, 19 August 2022

In a revelation given through Joseph Smith in July 1830, his wife, Emma Hale Smith was called to select hymns for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.

 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.[1]

The effort would unite a growing membership of the Church, who were coming from varying religious backgrounds. This project would take her more than five years to bring to publication.

Jennifer Reeder, who has researched much on Emma, wrote the following:

Emma’s hymnal was finally typeset in 1835, the date of the imprint, but the run of one thousand copies was printed in early 1836. Frederick G. Williams owned the press—the same Frederick Granger Williams for whom Emma and Joseph named their son born later that year. Emma titled the book A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The hymnal displayed the new official name of the Church, one way in which Emma contributed to the production of institutional identity. The hymnal cost one dollar.

The book contained ninety hymn texts on 127 pages. It was a small book—3½ by 4 inches—typical for contemporary hymnals, easily kept in a pocket for daily use. Also typical was the lack of printed music; instead, the book offered metrical designation, allowing lyrics to be sung to any number of familiar tunes with the same meter. Emma selected fifty hymns from various Protestant hymnals and forty from Latter-day Saint authors, including William Phelps, Parley P. Pratt, Eliza R. Snow, Edward Partridge, Thomas B. Marsh, and Philo Dibble. The preface, most likely written by Emma, reflected both her revelation and the Church: 

In order to sing by the Spirit, and with the understanding, it is necessary that the church of the Latter Day Saints should have a collection of “Sacred Hymns,” adapted to their faith and belief in the gospel, and, as far as can be, holding forth the promises made to the fathers who died in the precious faith of a glorious resurrection, and a thousand years’ reign on earth with the Son of Man in his glory. Notwithstanding the church, as it were, is still in its infancy, yet, as the song of the righteous is a prayer unto God, it is sincerely hoped that the following collection, selected with an eye single to his glory, may answer every purpose till more are composed, or till we are blessed with a copious variety of the songs of Zion.[2]

Emma later prepared a second hymnal that was ready for sale by March 15, 1841, as announced in the Times and Seasons. The new book included 304 hymns, using seventy-eight from the 1835 hymnal’s ninety hymns. Emma included seventy-seven new texts from the Manchester hymnal, then available in Nauvoo.[3]

She made a third attempt to compile a Nauvoo hymnal in 1843, but by this time, the Manchester hymnal seemed to have gained more popularity. Emma’s third book was never published.[4]

The 1985 hymnal used by Latter-day Saints today contains twenty-six songs from the original, including “The Spirit of God” and “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.”