British Hymn Books for Children, 1800-1900

Examining nineteenth-century British hymns for children, Alisa Clapp-Itnyre argues that the unique qualities of children's hymnody created a space for children's empowerment. Unlike other literature of the era, hymn books were often compilations of many writers' hymns, presenting the discerning child with a multitude of perspectives on religion and childhood. In addition, the agency afforded children as singers meant that they were actively engaged with the text, music, and pictures of their hymnals. Clapp-Itnyre charts the history of children’s hymn-book publications from early to late nineteenth century, considering major denominational movements, the importance of musical tonality as it affected the popularity of hymns to both adults and children, and children’s reformation of adult society provided by such genres as missionary and temperance hymns. While hymn books appear to distinguish 'the child' from 'the adult', intricate issues of theology and poetry - typically kept within the domain of adulthood - were purposely conveyed to those of younger years and comprehension. Ultimately, Clapp-Itnyre shows how children's hymns complicate our understanding of the child-adult binary traditionally seen to be a hallmark of Victorian society. Intersecting with major aesthetic movements of the period, from the peaking of Victorian hymnody to the Golden Age of Illustration, children’s hymn books require scholarly attention to deepen our understanding of the complex aesthetic network for children and adults. Informed by extensive archival research, British Hymn Books for Children, 1800-1900 brings this understudied genre of Victorian culture to critical light.

"This is a highly original work on an important topic, of the kind that makes readers wonder why nobody has ever tackled the subject before." - Nicholas Temperley, University of Illinois, USA"British Hymn Books for Children, 1800–1900: Re-Tuning the History of Childhood is a remarkable book. In its thoroughness and scholarly detail, it is a lesson to those, myself included, who have hitherto dealt with children’s hymns without considering the complexity of the topic. Alisa Clapp-Itnyre is not afraid to take us on and to defend her point of view firmly, if politely: of the argument of one celebrated critic she writes, ‘I would suggest a few clarifications to this assessment’. She has earned the right to say this by the comprehensiveness of her coverage: there is very little on the topic that she does not seem to have thought of, and she has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the hymn books of the period." - J. R. Watson, University of Durham, UK"This is an ambitious book, addressing not only the technical issues associated with hymn book production in the nineteenth century but setting the books and the hymns within the society and culture of their time." - Stephen Orchard, Westminster College, Cambridge, UK, "All in all, it seems to me that this volume will become an important resource, even a starting point, for anyone wishing to understand the religious culture of the child in the nineteenth century." -- Stephen Parker, University of Worcester

Alisa Clapp-Itnyre is Professor of English at Indiana University East, USA.