Her Heart Can See: The Life and Hymns of Fanny J Crosby
Edith L Blumhofer
Her Heart Can See offers an intimate, informed look at Fanny J. Crosby (1820–1915), the most prolific of all American hymn writers. Having lost her sight in infancy through a doctor’s negligence, Fanny went on to compose more than 9,000 hymns, as well as various other songs, cantatas, and lyrical productions. Crosby’s hymns, including such all-time favorites as “Blessed Assurance,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” and “I Am Thine, O Lord,” continue to be sung around the world.

Celebrated in her own day for her gospel hymns, Crosby was also very publicly involved with New York City’s rescue missions and with other benevolent efforts. She rubbed shoulders with the likes of Henry Clay, Grover Cleveland, Winfield Scott, Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey, Jenny Lind, P. T. Barnum, and many other famous figures who people these pages. More than two dozen black-and-white photographs depict the people and settings among which Crosby moved.

Drawing on primary sources — including thousands of unpublished Crosby manuscripts — Edith Blumhofer sorts fact from fiction in the life of this remarkable woman. Blumhofer responsibly limns Crosby’s life as a gifted nineteenth-century northeastern Protestant woman, in the process showing why “this diminutive woman” was — and is — so beloved.

Contents:
Introduction
Family (1635–1835)
Education (1835–1845)
Transition (1846–1858)
Faith
Music
Facilitators: George Root and William Bradbury
Sunday School
Collaborators
Gospel Hymns: Context
Gospel Hymns: Crosby's "Creed in Metre"
Out and About
Honor
Afterword
A Note on the Sources
Appendix A: Family Tree
Appendix B: A Partial List of Fanny Crosby Pseudonyms
Index

Reviews

Publishers Weekly (starred review)
In this marvelous new biography . . . Blumhofer offers a lively account of Crosby’s many accomplishments and also contextualizes Crosby’s life in larger currents of American history. . . . A splendid and entertaining contribution to American religious history.

ISBN: 9780802842534
Catalogue code: N/A
Publisher: WM B EERDMANS PUB CO - published 12/08/2005
Format: Paperback  

£11.99
Buy Now