Goshen College: Harold and Wilma Good Library

Jesse D. Hartzler Music Collection of American Tune Books and Hymnals: Includes materials from 1566 to the present, mostly American nineteenth-century tunebooks and hymnals. The chronological scope of the collection supports the study of the evolution of American religious music from the 1760s to the 1920s. Many works are represented in several editions. The collection covers the rise and development of various religious and social movements. Many of the works include instructional prefaces. The collection is not restricted along denominational or regional U.S. lines. The collection is closed to additions. About 500 reference titles are cataloged and classified. There is a sixty-page preliminary listing of the entire collection plus a supplement of 350 titles added in 1984. When Goshen College purchased the collection in 1968, Jesse Hartzler organized the works into these categories: Sabbath school tunebooks, denominational and standard hymnals, spirituals (words-only or with tunes), class books, shaped and unconventional forms of notes, eighteenth-century imprints, psalmbooks, Negro melodies, gospel song-books, etc. This remains the only classification of the collection. The collection has been briefly cataloged and can be accessed through the library’s online catalog. Date range: 1566–present.