ANCIENT & MODERN
Hymns and songs for refreshing worship
Ancient and Modern Ltd. 847 items. Full Music
edition £35.00, Melody £20.00, Words only
£12.50; various discounts for churches
ISBN (Full Music) 978 1 848 252 424
It is not only Anglicans who will notice this further landmark in the story of the world’s most successful hymn book. The fact that it is here at all is a massive and welcome vote of confidence in the future of books.
A mere 13 years since its immediate predecessor, this is the most extensive in a series which has sold 170 million copies since 1861 and with the widest range of material to date. Like that recent book, it is a huge improvement on the New Standard (1983), which still survives in some surprising places. The Preface is signed by a team of six editors, including two women. Among the expected indexes, the Thematic section surely has something for everyone; the Metrical Index does not print the opening bars of music.
