“Denson Book Timeline”

My entire master bibliographic timeline of Sacred Harp books is overwhelming in the number of items listed, and while them being in strict chronological order provides interesting perspective, so would a more focused, narrower perspective. I’ve decided to make a dedicated post for just the “Denson” books, since that’s the most popular version and they’re very close to releasing a new edition.

Right now there are two unresolved chronological issues: the 1936 and the 1971 edition. Both have three known cover variants, and it is easy to interpret the one that came first, but I have no clue the order or dates of the subsequent two.

I realized that many Sacred Harp singers often write their name and the date on the inside cover of their books. If enough of these inscriptions are documented, patterns could emerge, showing clusters around a particular year. Additionally, if no inscriptions are found from earlier years (e.g., year “x-1”), it may help establish the earliest possible publication year for these variants.

A 1987 edition reads “Teri Jun. 18, 1987”

Looking at auctions and having people self-report from their own collections are two means of collecting this data. Unfortunately the ’36 books are nowhere near as common as the ’77 books.

Do you have a book that doesn’t appear to be on this list? PLEASE CONTACT ME: baltimoreshapenote@gmail.com

Please provide data for my research!

https://forms.gle/takksczAA8kdp4z29

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1936 EDITION

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1936 – “Original Sacred Harp” – Denson Revision – “Denson Book”
Full Title on Title page: “
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Haleyville, Alabama / (PRINTER)
461 pages + index; oblong
There are three distinct variants I have documented that have been noted as being a 1936 edition. The first cover shown has a very distinctive typography, that reflects the title page inside the book, but also the title page of the red/orange cover. The photo showing the third variant was published in a recent online story and had the caption: “Two women sing from the 1936 revision of The Sacred Harp at the United Sacred Harp Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, 1940s.”

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1960 EDITION

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1960 – “Original Sacred Harp” – “1960 Supplement” – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc. & Denson Music Publishing Co. Cullman, Alabama Owen W. Denson- Owner.
582 incl. indices pages; oblong
It was 24 years before this revision was completed.

There are three states of the 1960 Edition. SHD-1960A has the same cover typography as the 1936 edition, with an edition of the new edition year and the change of cities of the publisher, implying it might be the first of the 1960 stated. The SHD-1960B has the same title page as SHD-1960A, implying that while the cover is different, the title page hasn’t been touched. SHD-1960C has both a newly retypeset cover and a crudely manipulated title page.

Richard Hulan, in the “Fasola Discussions” group stated the following:

“(I) got the black 1960 w/o gilding from Hugh McGraw at a Harpeth Presbyterian singing in 1960 — ink was still wet, so to speak.”

Unfortunately, it is not clear which one he’s referring to.

The title pages for SHD-1960A and SHD-1960B are identical, with no changes from one to the other. The title page from SHD-1960C shows a lot of crude manipulation, and the addition of text.

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1966 EDITION

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1966 – “Original Sacred Harp” – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Cullman, AL. / (PRINTER)
573 + 5 of tune index pages; oblong
Only six years for a new revision.

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1971 EDITION

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1971 – “Original Sacred Harp” – 1971 Edition, First printing – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA. / Kingsport Press, Kingsport Tennessee
586 pages; oblong
Five years since the previous revision.
LINK: INTERNET ARCHIVE

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1977 – “Original Sacred Harp” – 1971, Second Printing? – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Cullman, AL.
The cover reads “(Denson Revision) 1844-1977”, so I’m assuming the end date was the year of printing and not a typo. The Cullman, Alabama address seems like it might imply an earlier printing, as a previous and subsequent books are out of Bremen, Georgia.

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1980 – “Original Sacred Harp” – 1971, Third Printing – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA. / (PRINTER)
This is a special variant of the 1971 edition, released for the 1st National Convention.

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198? – “Original Sacred Harp” – 1971 Ed., 4th or 5th Printing – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA. / (PRINTER)
(NOTES)

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198? – “Original Sacred Harp” – 1971 Ed., 4th or 5th Printing – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA. / (PRINTER)
(NOTES)

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1987 EDITION

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1987 – Original Sacred Harp – Denson Revision 1987 – “Denson Book”
On Title Page: The Best collection of Sacred Songs, Hymns, Odes, and Anthems ever offered the singing public for general use
(PUBLISHER) / (PRINTER)
586 pages; oblong
This 1987 Edition was 16 years after the previous edition, though several variants of the ’71 were issued.

On the “Fasola Discussions” group, Bob Borcherding shared the following in November 2007:

When the 1987 Revision came out, I recall Hugh McGraw was dissatisfied
with the book because it just didn’t fit well in the lap, it is too
big. The book 1987 revision had the same songs as the 1971 revision,
but with corrections and additional information… .

The book itself measures 7-3/4″ high by just under 11″ wide, and
1-1/2″ thick, when pushing down on the cover, since the paper is
“spongier” than the 1971 edition, whereas the 1971 Revision, which
comes in at 10-1/4″ x 7-1/4″, and 1-1/4″ thick, without pressing
down. Because of the quality of the paper, which is thicker and
rougher in texture, the ink seems to have been absorbed into it more,
so the overall appearance of the printing is less clear and doesn’t
stand out as well as the 1971 edition.

Also, it appears the printing process was photographic, with less
darkness to the text. I measured the length of the top staff in
Edmonds, 115, and it is about 1/32″ longer on the 1987 edition than
the 1971 edition, so the 1987 must have created from photocopies,
rather than the plates of the 1971 edition. Apparently they edited
the paper masters by hand (several individuals must have done so,
because of typeface variations, which match neither the 1971 revision
or some of the other corrections in the 1987 edition.

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1991 SUPPLIMENT

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1991 – A Proposed Selection of Music 1991 Revision of The Sacred Harp – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA / (PRINTER)
(NOTES)

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1991 EDITION

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1991 – The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition – 1991 Revision – “Denson Book”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA / (PRINTER)
585 pages; oblong
The shortest duration between editions is between 1987 and this wholly revised and retypeset 1991 edition. It is significant that the title was changed for the first time since 1934. The website fasola.org states:

“Officially titled The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition (with the word ‘edition’ on the outer cover replaced by the word ‘revision’ on the inside title page).”

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2025 EDITION

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TBD – The Sacred Harp – TBA – “TBD”
Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Bremen, GA
If the publishers release it as expected, it will have been the longest interval between editions, 34 years.