The Hymns of Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts (1674–1748) was one of the earliest of the popular English hymn-writers. He composed some 750 hymns, of which the best known is probably “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”.

Watts was the non-conformist pastor of a large Independent Chapel in London, but his main activities lay in the area of training and tutoring younger ministers. In terms of theology, he was more broad-minded than was usual for a non-conformist, and his emphasis was more on promoting education and scholarship, rather than supporting a particular denominational position.

Many of Watts’ poems were written during his residence at Abney Park in Stoke Newington. The house had beautiful grounds through which Watts loved to wander, and where he sought inspiration. He died at Abney House in 1748 and was buried in Bunhill Fields. On his death, Isaac Watts’ papers were given to Yale University, an institution which was founded by fellow Independents and with which he was connected for many years.

We are pleased to make his “Hymns and Spiritual Songs” available again. This collection contains over 300 hymns, including a number of old favourites.

• Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1 MB)

Caveat: The original text was scanned to text (.txt) format. We have made every effort to fix scanning errors, but there may still be some. Please let us know if you find any.