John Julian (27 January 1839 – 23 January 1913) (no middle name on birth certificate) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

clergyman, known as the editor of ''

A Dictionary of Hymnology ''A Dictionary of Hymnology'' (or, more completely, ''A Dictionary of Hymnology: Origin and History of Christian Hymns and Hymnwriters of All Ages and Nations, Together with Biographical and Critical Notices of Their Authors and Translators'') by ...

''. Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first this was the common reference for those studying

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

ody and

hymnology Hymnology (from Greek ὕμνος ''hymnos'', "song of praise" and -λογία ''-logia'', "study of") is the scholarly study of religious song, or the hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on choral and congregational song. It may be m ...

. His own estimate was that there were 400,000 hymns in the scope of his chosen field; his correspondents for research numbered over 1000. It was only superseded over a century later by the online ''Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology''.

Life

Julian was awarded an honorary degree by

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

(MA, 1887); a Lambeth degree ( DD, 1894), and an honorary degree from Howard University, Washington DC (LL.D., 1894). The son of Thomas and Ann Julian, he was brought up as a Wesleyan Methodist, and became a Probationer minister in 1861 aged 22. In 1864 he was dismissed from the ministry for ‘unworthy conduct in reference to a matrimonial engagement’ (the common wording for a ‘breach of promise’). He moved to the Church of England, and trained for the priesthood at the University of Durham (1864-66) He was

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Wincobank Shiregreen and Brightside ward—which includes the districts of Brightside, Shiregreen, and Wincobank—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the northern part of the city and covers an area ...

from 1876. In November 1901 he was appointed Prebendary of

Church Fenton Church Fenton or Kirk Fenton is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. It is about east of Leeds, about south-east from Tadcaster and north from Sherburn in Elmet. Neighbouring villages include Barkston ...

in York Minster. He later became a Canon of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. From 1905, he was Vicar of Topcliffe, Yorkshire. While at Wincobank he researched and prepared the three million words of the main work of scholarship for which he is renowned: ''A Dictionary of Hymnology, setting forth the Origin and History of Christian Hymns of all Ages and Nations, with special reference to those contained in the hymn books of English-speaking countries, and now in Common Use; together with biographical and critical notices of their authors and translators, and historical articles on national and denominational hymnody, breviaries, missals, primers, Psalters, Sequences, &c., &c., &c.'' Two common abbreviations are DoH and Julian. He had a high opinion of his own work: in his will he described it as a work on which he had ‘spent much time and arduous labour’. In its preface he claimed that in order to attain ‘minute technical accuracy’, everything was meticulously researched, so that ‘The pursuit of this aim has very frequently demanded, for the production of one page only, as much time and attention, as is usually expended on one hundred pages of ordinary history or criticism.’ Ten thousand manuscripts were consulted; it involved the contributions of 43 others as well as Julian himself; and over a thousand people wrote letters to Julian assisting him in his research into a field that, according to Julian, numbered more than 400,000 hymns. His research and achievement were truly magisterial, and his Dictionary has remained at the forefront of hymnological research for over a hundred years. He also wrote ''Concerning Hymns'' (1874), ''History of the Use of Hymns in Public Worship, and Their Proper Characteristics'' (1894), and ''Carols, Ancient and Modern'' (1900).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Julian, John DD 1839 births 1913 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Durham University Howard University alumni Hymnologists