Ray Palmer, a later doctor of theology, and Lowell Mason, a doctor of
music, met in Boston in 1830. Mason inquired to Palmer if he had any
lyrics that could be inserted for Spiritual Songs for Social Worship, a compilation that was being prepared by Mason and Thomas Hastings for publication within a couple years.
Palmer presented Mason his leather book containing his poem, "My Faith
Looks Up to Thee," originally in six stanzas. The two men walked into a
shop so Mason could obtain a transcript of Palmer’s words. It wasn’t
until he arrived home that evening that the forthwith celebrated stanzas
were read, and Mason immediately wrote the tune OLIVET, the only melody
ever performed with Palmer’s poem.
Palmer believed his hymn flourished since it “embodied, in
appropriate and simple language that which is most central in all true
Christian experience—the act of faith in the divine Redeemer—the
entrusting of the individual soul to Him entirely and forever.”
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Sewn miniature, with handcolored wraps. String has broken, but the booklet remains together. Illustrated and decorated miniature, repeating the stanzas of the famous hymn written in 1830. Castell Brothers manufactured a plethora of these booklets for the Edwardian faithful. Some were for children, others, like this, more broadly targeted. Castell Bros may be related the Castell-Faber family of Austrian (Bavarian) regions. Faber is the oldest trademark in America. They were best known for the Pepys line of card games, and finally disappeared from the landscape in 1983.