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Chapter I

CHAPTER I. Introduction.

Up to this time, the American field of Schwenkf elder hymnology appears to have been permitted to lie unworked and even uncleared; so that the present investigation has demanded pioneer effort. The explanation of this fact can readily be furnished. Until recent years, the sources which have made the present treatise possible were in the private possession of numerous individuals and of households of the sect, and hence were, for the most part, both inaccessible and unknown to the investigator. However, patient searching has brought to light much material relating to the production, transcribing, compiling and editing of hymns of Schwenkfelder authorship—the activity of the Schwenkfelders in the writing and collecting of hymns having extended from the first half of the sixteenth to the second half of the nineteenth century, a period of more than three hundred years. This material consists chiefly of manuscript sources hitherto unpublished, and is therefore of prime importance for a documentary account of the hymnology of the sect. The most important of the historical manuscripts exploited in the preparation of this work will be found printed with the text—care having been exercised to permit no deviation from the orthography employed by the chronicler. These citations are in most cases given in English translation also. The specimen hymns printed or reprinted are provided with footnotes explaining dialectal and obsolete forms. The illustrations will be found to include photographic reproductions indicating those manuscript compilations which served as sources for the first hymn-book of the sect printed in America.

The few brief notices which have thus far appeared, of the activity of the Schwenkfelders in the writing and compiling of hymns, have not been overlooked. In 1882, there appeared in the Reformed Quarterly Review an article entitled "Early German Hymnology of Pennsylvania," which contains an account of the Schwenkf elder hymn-book of 1762. In 1898, the Americana Germanica published a treatise on the subject of German hymnology in America, in which the writer confines his account of Schwenkfelder hymn-writing to the following brief mention: "Other sects, such as the Schwenkfelders, who came to Pennsylvania in 1734, may be passed over with the mere mention. The hymn-book of the Schwenkfelders, known as the Neu-cingerichtetes Gesangbuch, left Saur's press in 1762; it contains no hymns written in this country, but is interesting for its scholarly preface and excellent arrangement."

In the course of the present work, however, it will be seen that Schwenkfelder hymnology is entitled to more than mere mention, and that the statement, "it contains no hymns written in this country," is certainly without foundation. In 1904 appeared the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania, a historical study of the Schwenkfelders since their exodus from Saxony. This contains a partial list of the Schwenkfelder hymn-writers whose hymns were admitted into the hymn-book printed in 1762. But all these references to the hymn-book in question merely suggest that Schwenkfelder hymnology holds a place in the hymnology of the Fatherland.

The larger works on hymnology have also been consulted. In Julian, but two Schwenkfelder hymn-writers receive mention. They are Adam Reissner and Sebastian Franck. Even Daniel Sudermann is not named. Koch distinguishes two schools of Schwenkfelder hymn-writers, namely, that of the Reformation period and a post-Reformation school. He treats a total of eight authors. We have already observed, in our preface, that Koch recognizes a well-defined Schwenkfeldian type of hymn-writing and cheerfully concedes to it a raison d'etre. But his account of the Schwenkfelder hymn-writers terminates with 1631, the year of Sudermann's death. Wackernagel describes very fully the Schwenkfelder hymns of the period which he treats, but he discusses only the writers up to Sudermann inclusive, and his account is not biographical. Schneider's monograph likewise closes with an account of the hymns of Daniel Sudermann. Indeed, both Wackernagel and Koch frankly acknowledge their indebtedness to Schneider for much of their information concerning the early hymn-writers of the school of Schwenkfeld.

It will be seen thus, that none of these authorities approaches the period with which the present treatise is particularly concerned. It is the purpose of this monograph (1) to present a survey of the entire field of Schwenkfelder hymnology, and (2) to submit the results of an examination of certain compilations of hymns extant in manuscript. The collections in question are those brought to America by the Schwenkf elders in 1734, together with the rearrangements and transcriptions of them produced here. Documentary sources have been employed almost exclusively, and with but one exception, the writer has enjoyed the use of the originals of the several hymn-collections examined. The hymn-book issued from the press of Christopher Saur has, of course, received attention ; but no minute analysis of this imprint has been attempted. It will frequently be referred to as the "Saur edition." The second and third editions of the printed hymnal are merely listed in our Descriptive Bibliography. Each is essentially an abridgment of the edition which preceded it.

In an address delivered before the Pennsylvania-German Society on the occasion of its first annual meeting, October 1891, Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, Former Governor of , made the following reference to the results which the Schwenkfelders have accomplished in the transcribing of their own literature: "I want to call your attention to another sect, the Schwenkfelders who came to Pennsylvania. They were the followers of Caspar Schwenkfeld and the doctrines taught by him were almost identical with those taught by the Quakers. They came in 1734. Their literature was extensive and interesting. It is reproduced for the most part in huge folios written upon paper made at the Rittenhouse paper-mill on the Wissahickon, the earliest in America. These volumes sometimes contained a thousand pages, bound in stamped leather with brass corners and brass mounting. Among the notable facts connected with their history is the fact that they prepared a written description of all the writings of Schwenkfeld and their other authors and it is as far as I know the first attempt at a bibliography in this country."

The early history of the Schwenkfelders furnishes the explanation of this extraordinary activity in the copying of both their printed works as well as unpublished manuscripts. Repeatedly, the literature of the sect was proscribed and the use of the press forbidden them, so that for the preservation of the works of their various writers they were dependent upon their transcribers. Of this activity, the collecting and copying of hymns has always been a considerable part, and in our next chapter we list bibliographically the numerous larger collections of hymns which are still extant in manuscript and are products of the patient toil of Schwenkfelder transcribers. Furthermore, we shall see that some of the hymn-writers themselves served the sect as copyists. Thus Adam Reissner and Daniel Sudermann compiled large folios of hymns written by their own hands. A century later Caspar Weiss produced a compilation of hymns in two volumes in manuscript, in which he has perpetuated hymns written by Adam Reissner, Daniel Sudermann, Raimund Weckher, Valentin Triller, Antonius Oelsner, George Heydrich, Martin John, Jr., and other Schwenkfelder hymn-writers. Again, George Weiss subjected the collection of Caspar Weiss, his father, to a rearrangement and added more than 500 hymns of Schwenkfelder authorship. It is also noteworthy that this activity did not cease with the emigration of the sect from the Fatherland. The present writer has thus far examined six folios besides numerous quartos and a great variety of additional collections arranged for church use, all of which were compiled or transcribed in America. The extant manuscript hymn-books arranged for household use (Taegliche Gesangbuecher) are also numerous. It has been the writer's good fortune to unearth a number of important collections of hymns in manuscript and it is not unlikely that others exist which will yet be discovered. We should, therefore, not lose sight of the fact that the great mass of transcriptions—of hymns, of sermons, of historical matter and of other literature—produced by the Schwenkfelders in America represents the survival of the laborious work of transcribing which originated in Europe more than two hundred years before, when printers were forbidden to do press-work for the Schwenkfelders. Necessity was the mother of the device, and in this way for a period of more than two centuries preceding the emigration to America, copies of the Schwenkfeld prints which had been saved from seizure were multiplied, and both their earlier and their contemporaneous literature preserved.

Investigation has revealed the further fact that three collections of hymns served as the principal manuscript sources of the Schwenkf elder hymn-book of 1762, familiarly known as the "Saur edition." The collections in question form a connected series, beginning with the compilation of Caspar Weiss, which was completed in 1709. Hence, the first Schwenkf elder hymn- book printed in America was in part the result of a line of activity in the compiling of hymns, which began at the very opening of the 18th century, about 60 years before. The additional fact has also been disclosed that this continued activity is marked from its beginning to its close by a well-defined progression,—each compiler after the originator, having operated with the completed work of his predecessor as a basis. The series of collections comprising the extent of this activity consists therefore, essentially of four compilations of hymns, each regularly edited, although the first three collections of the series were never issued in printed form. Moreover, and singularly enough, the effort represented by this activity was confined to four families of the sect: Caspar Weiss of Harpersdorf, in Silesia, and the Rev. George Weiss, his son; the Rev. Balthaser Hoffmann and his son, the Rev. Christopher Hoffmann; Hans Christoph Huebner, and the Rev. Christopher Schultz. With the exception of Caspar Weiss, who died in Silesia before the emigration to Saxony, all were immigrants to America. George Weiss, Balthaser Hoffmann and Christopher Schultz were writers of hymns. And not only to Rev. Christopher Schultz as editor, but to each one of these compilers must be conceded a share in the credit for the ultimate product, the Neu-eingerichtetes Gesangbuch of 1762.

Chapter II

CHAPTER II. Descriptive Bibliography.

This descriptive bibliographical list includes only collections of hymns, manuscript and printed. The compiler or author is in every instance a Schwenkfelder. Early German religious prints other than hymn-books not infrequently contained a few hymns; and a number of hymns of Schwenkfelder authorship were first published separately in this manner. But such prints are not included in this list. Likewise, collections which contain Schwenkfelder hymns but are not Schwenkfelder compilations are excluded. The list affords a survey of the activity of the sect in the writing as well as in the collecting and arranging of hymns for devotional use, privately and in their meetings for worship. The numbers in this bibliography marked thus (*) are the collections in folio and quarto which served as sources for the "Saur edition," and include both the original manuscripts and the transcriptions of them which are known to exist. All titles are reproduced in German, with their original orthography. The description of all the numbers in the list is given in English. Those numbers which are not described as "manuscript" are collections which have been issued in print.

I. 1546.

Octavo. 14 pages. Contains the hymn : Ein vogel ist aussge-flogen. The hymn consists of 31 strophes of 7 lines. It is a polemic in defense of the doctrine of Schwenkfeld. Preceding the hymn is an "Exhortation to the Reader" in rhymed couplets. (Royal Library, Dresden.)

II. I565.

Octavo. 30 pages. Contains the following three hymns : In alten gschichten gschriben staht, Nu hört mir zu in meim gedicht, Herr Jhesu Christe starker Gott.

The first hymn consists of 34 strophes of 13 lines. The second is in 10 strophes of 13 lines. The third is in 19 strophes of 5 lines. Of the first two, Adam Reissner is the author. The third is probably not from his pen. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

III. 1565

Ein schön Lied, Von der | Ruten vnd Kinder zucht. Im thon, | Ich stundt an einem morgen. | Allen Eltern vnd Kindern, sher mütz | vnd not, in disen zeiten zu singen.

Octavo. 7 pages. Contains the hymn: Ein Liedlein wil ich dichten, Zu lob der Ruten gut. It is in 18 strophes of 7 lines. The sentiment of the hymn is that of the proverb: "Spare the rod and spoil the child." The author is Alexander Heldt. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

IV. 1570.

Octavo. 6 pages. A new edition of the hymn of Alexander Heldt on the training of children. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

V. 1587.

Geistliche Lieder. | Daniel Suderman. | Die Kinder diser Welt sind Kliiger den die Kinder des | liechts, in Irem Luc. XVI. Aber, Gott förchten | ist die volkomne Weiszheit. Eccl. I. Gott förchten ist weit | vber alles. Eccl. XXV. Gott forchten, vnd vor augen haben ist | weiszheit, vnd vom bosen weichen, ist verstand. Job. XXVIII. | Singend ein lobgesang, Lobend Gott vber allc seine Werck, | Gebend dem Herrn Herrligkeit vnd eehr, veriähend sein lob mitt | euweren läfftzen, Ja mit den gsang euwerer läfftzen, mit den | Harpffen, vnd seitenspilen Eccl. XXXIX. Leerend vnd ernia- | nend euch selbs mit gesangen vnd geistlichen liederen, in der gnad, | vnd singend dem herren in euwerem hertzen. Col. 3. | Zu Straszburg, Im Bruderhoff. | 1587.

Manuscript in folio. Will be designated as Si in the list of Sudermann collections included in our discussion of this hymn-writer in the next chapter. 538 pages. Chronologically, this is the first collection of Sudermann's hymns. The author is also the compiler. It contains a number of his very earliest compositions, written in the years 1572 ft. Every hymn is furnished with corrections supplied in Sudermann's own hand about 30 years after the engrossing of the manuscript. The succession of poems is occasionally interrupted by passages from St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine and other Church Fathers, in French translation. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

VI. 1596.

Manuscript in folio. 734 pages. This is a compilation consisting of (1) hymns written by Adam Reissner, and (2) hymns collected by Reissner from other Schwenkfelder writers. The next number in this series has many hymns in common with this manuscript. The collection comprises six distinct sections, with a separate title-page for each section. The titles of the successive sections are included in this account. The first section comprises 's translations of the Latin hymns of Aurelius Prudentius. Following we reproduce the title-page of the second section:

All the hymns of this section are by Adam Reissner. They include many of his metrical versions of the Psalms. Following is the title of the third section :

This is the largest of the six divisions of the collection. Of most of the hymns of this section, Adam Reissner is only the collector. Of a few he is also the author. The title of the fourth section follows:

Six hymns on the Lord's Supper and the Atonement. The first is unquestionably by Reissner. The authorship of the others is uncertain. Following we reproduce in part the fifth title-page:

Geistliche Gsang | Ausz Ilailiger Geschrifft | Das Christus bald komen werd zurichten.

MOSEH | SOPHONIAH

DAVID | HOSEAH

ESAIAH | BARVCH

IEREMIAH | DANIEL

HABACVK | MACABEER

This title-page bears the date 1596. This is also the date of the next number in this series. This section contains hymns on the Judgment. The brief title of the last section is as follows:

Hernach folgen Gesanng, Wie | sich ein mensch in Verlichner gnad Christi auf sein Zukonnfft berai- | ten mechte.

This part of the collection contains chiefly hymns on the Second Coming of Christ. The orthography of this manuscript seems to point to Strassburg. It contains a total of 175 hymns. Of these, 44 are unquestionably, and 10 others possibly, by Adam Reissner. All the hymns of this collection are presumably of Schwenkfelder authorship. (Herzogliche Bibliothek, Wolfenbiittel.)

VII. 1596.

Manuscript in folio. 572 pages. In this collection and in the collection which we have just described, most of the hymns by Adam Reissner have been preserved. This manuscript, like the preceding, contains hymns by various Schwenkfelder writers in addition to those by Reissner. The compiler of this collection was the distinguished Schwenkfelder and prolific hymn-writer Daniel Sudermann, in whose hand the entire manuscript is neatly engrossed. The first division of the volume embraces those translations of the Latin hymns of Prudentius contained in the preceding number, here re-arranged. Then a new title-page, as follows:

PROVDENTII ENCHIRIDION. | Eua Columba fuit, turn Candida nigra deinde. | Kleine Bibel. | Namen vnnd wunderge-schichten dess Alten | vnnd Newen Testaments.

This part of the collection comprises a translation of the Enchiridion, or handbook of devotions, of Aurelius Prudentius. It is the enlargement indicated on the title-page of the book. Who translated these Latin hymns, we are not told. Again a new title, as follows:

This section is supplied with a preface by Sudermann, possibly indicating that he intended to have these hymns published in the form of a hymn-book. From this preface, as well as from the title and the passages of Scripture which follow it, we may assume (1) that these hymns were gathered from Schwenkfelder writers only and (2) that the collection was prepared in defense of the position of the Schwenkfelders with regard to the Lord's Supper. This manuscript contains 117 hymns. It closes with the following verses:

Zu Christi lob, Glori vnd preisz, Audi Ehr, hab ich diss Buc'h, mit vleisz. Zusammen bracht: Gebenedeyt, Der an den tag brengt, solche warheit: Verbannet audi dagegen sey, Ders noch entfrembd, vnd nit last frey, Oder, ausz Neyd, zumal verdirbt: Gott such Ihn heim, die dan er stirbt.

D. S.

VIII. 1597.

Geistliche Lieder.| Zur Ermanung vnnd anhaltung, trieb, vnd vbung, | Das man Im Hauss Gottes nit schläfferig seye : | Sonder allzeit Wachen, betten, vnd ermancn soil. | I. Teil. | Die Kinder diser Welt seind Kliiger dan die Kinder | des liechts In Ihrem geschlecht. Luc. : 16. Aber Gott | förchten vnd vor augen haben ist Weiszheit, vnnd vom | bösen weichen, ist verstand. Job : 28. Gott forchten ist | Die volkomme Weissheit. Eccl : `. Gott forchten ist weit I vber alles. Eccl: 25. | Ihr sollends ihm nit verbieten : Wer nit ist wider vns, | Der ist fur vns. Marc: 9. 1. Cor: 12A. Dan der einig Geist würckt | alles, vnd theilt einem Jeglichen seines zu, nach dem Er will &c. | 1. Cor: 14. Coloss: 3. | Psallierend in ewerm hertzen dem herren, lehrend vnd erinnert | ein ander, mit Psalmen, Gesangen vnd geistlichen liedern, Singet | in der gnad jn ewerm hertzen. | Durch, | Daniel Suderman zu Strassburg &c. | sein Erste vbung &c.

Manuscript in folio. 1071 pages. Will be designated hereafter as S11 of the Sudermann collections. Chronologically, it is the second collection of hymns by Daniel Sudermann. Most of these hymns were written in the period 1588—1597. They number in the aggregate 558. However, the collection contains hymns which were admitted from manuscript S1, so that they were not all new hymns. Of the hymns which this collection comprises, 26 have appeared in print. Of these, some had been printed before the completion of the collection. In the years 1605 and 1606, the Prussian composer Hans Schults copied from this volume a considerable number of hymns which he set to music. According to a note contained in the manuscript, this collection originally comprised two volumes. Of the companion volume (II. Theil) the writer has nowhere else found mention. It is probably no longer extant. Most of the hymns contained in this collection were admitted into the three volumes which constitute the next three numbers in this series—a manuscript hymn-book in three Parts, quarto. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

IX. 1615.

Manuscript in quarto. 1044 pages. This is the first of three volumes which constitute chronologically the third collection of Sudermann hymns. We shall designate these volumes S111a, S111b and S111c respectively. The collection was probably completed 1615—possibly later. Immediately preceding the hymns is an extension of the title, from which it appears that Sudermann intended at this time to issue in printed form a complete collection of his hymns. About one-third of the space of the first volume is devoted to hymns for children, with such marginal notes as "Kinderlieder" and "Zurkinder leer." The total of hymns in this volume is 780, of which 39 have appeared in print. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

X. 1615.

Manuscript in quarto. 1010 pages. This is collection S111b of the Sudermann hymns. The date is the same as that of the preceding number. It contains a smaller number of "Kinderlieder" than the first volume. Passages from the Scriptures, the Church Fathers and the mystics Eckhart and Tauler, are numerous. There are also two hymns copied from the writings of Tauler, given with the text normalized by Sudermann. The hymns in this volume number 376. 38 have appeared in print. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

XI. 1615.

Manuscript in quarto. 1134 pages. This is the third part of Sudermann's "Gsangbuch, Newer geistlicher Lieder." We shall designate it as Sine. The date is 1615 (circa). This volume contains 1107 hymns, of which about 40 have been printed (Royal Library, Berlin.)

The three volumes which we have just discussed are composed of (1) hymns copied from the two folio volumes, S1 and S11, of Sudermann hymns, and (2) new hymns written in the years 1600—1615 (circa). Those transcribed from the two earlier collections were in many cases revised at this time. No one of the three volumes of this hymn-book contains an index of first lines.

XII. 1618.

Octavo. 32 pages. Contains the following three hymns : Ein Tochter Jung, von Sion her, Gott sey gelobt, in ewigkeit, Liebende Seel, welche nun bist.

The first is in rhymed couplets. The second is in 22 strophes of 8 lines. The third is in 7 strophes of 8 lines. We shall designate it as Siv in our list of collections of Sudermann hymns. (Herzogliche Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel.)

XIII. 1619.

Octavo. 16 pages. Will hereafter be designated as Sv. This print contains four didactic poems in rhymed couplets, and the hymn :

Hört jhr lieben Jungfrawen,

in 17 strophes of 8 lines. (Herzogliche Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel.)

XIV. 1619.

Five Leaves in Folio with Didactic Poems by Daniel Sudermann.

Will hereafter be designated as Svi. There are five poems, typographed. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

XV. 1620.

This is the first of four related collections of hymns by Daniel Sudermann which will hereafter be designated as Sviia, Sviib, Sviic and Sviid, respectively. This series of publications is extraordinary with regard to both content and the character of the imprints. Each number in the series consists of 50 leaves in folio printed from engraved copper-plates. The arrangement in the case of each plate is as follows: First, a heading; under it a symbolic illustration, in form rectangular; under this, a poem. Beside and below the poem are passages of Scripture or excerpts from the mystics. Illustration and poem interpret these passages. At the bottom of the plate are the initials "D. S." and the engraver's mark. A few copies of these rare imprints have been preserved by the Schwenkfelders in America. Of the first number there is a copy in the Royal Library, Berlin, and one in the Herzogliche Bibliothek at Wolfenbüttel. It was printed at Strassburg, 1620.

XVI. 1620.

Schöne auszelesne Sinreiche Figuren, | auch Gleichmussen, Erklarungen Gebettlein Mid hohe | lehr. | Durch D. S. | Gedruckt bey Jacob von der Ileyden Kupferstecher.

The second collection in the series under discussion. Will hereafter be designated as Svnb. Printed at Strassburg, 1620. (Royal Library, Berlin, and Herzogliche Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel.)

XVII. 1622.

Folio. 12 pages. This is a treatise on perfect love. It contains (1) an essay written 1489 by Heinrich Vigilis von Weissenburg and found in manuscript form by Sudermann; (2) an enumeration of 24 "marks" of divine love, culled from the writings of Eckhard and Tauler; (3) the following hymn by Sudermann:

Ein Mensch auffs new geboren schon,

in 12 strophes of 4 lines. Will hereafter be designated as Svii. (Royal Library, Berlin.)

XVIII. 1622.

Twelve Leaves in Folio with Religious Poems by Daniel Sudermann.

The second page of each leaf is blank. The arrangement of the printed pages is essentially the same as in the case of numbers XV., XVI., XXII. and XXIV. of this bibliography—the series consisting of symbolic illustrations with interpretations in verse, printed from copper-plates. These leaves are typographed. They contain 12 poems, of which 9 are in rhymed couplets. This collection will hereafter be designated as Six. (Royal Library, Berlin, and Herzogliche Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel.)

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Schwenkfelder Hymnology

About this book

Front matter

front matter

Chapter I

Chapter II

The end

Schwenkfelder Hymnology

About this book

Front matter

front matter

Chapter I

Chapter II

The end

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