1864 EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND. Rare Civil War Issue "Revival Melodist" Hymnal for "Seasons of Deep Religious Interest."

A very scarce, ephemeral hymnal by one of the most influential revivalists of the time, designed for "seasons of deep religious interest," which accompanied the solemnity and accompanying revivals of the Civil War era.

As he notes in the introduction, "The first glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit has been followed by similar scenes to the present day. No features of such a season are more marked than the use which is then made of 'psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.' These are the indispensable channel of the deep spiritual emotions which the Holy Ghost has brought into existence."

The whole is interspersed with testimonies from his evangelistic and revivalist work of 1863. 

Edward Payson Hammond [1831-1910] was a "new light" or "new school" Presbyterian revivalist and evangelist ordained in 1863 and was one of the very earliest co-laborers with D. L. Moody. They began their partnership in Chicago in 1864, the year our little hymnal was issued. Between 1866 and 1868, Hammond made an eminently successful evangelistic tour of England. During these meetings, he introduced evangelistic hymns, thought to be the first time this had been done in history. It was his practice that inspired the methodology of D. L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey just a few years later. 

Hammond, Edward Payson. The Revival Melodist. A Collection of Choice Hymns and Tunes, Especially Adapted to Seasons of Deep Religious Interest. And the Use in the Family and Sabbath School. Edited and Compiled by Edward Payson Hammdon. Boston. Henry Hoyt. 1864. 52pp.

We trace examples only at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania; the present a better-preserved example. 

Good + to very good. Small fold on rear wrap, some corners dog-eared and light foxing. But very good and complete on the whole, especially for an ephemeral item.