John Rippon, pastor of the Baptist church in Carter Lane, London, in 1787 published, A Selection of Hymns from the best authors, intended to be an Appendix to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns. This collection of 588 hymns was reprinted in America in 1792. It became a standard for Baptist hymn singing and a major source for subsequent compilers. Jones and Allison had already drawn heavily on the London edition for their Selection of Psalms and Hymns (1790).

      By the early years of the nineteenth century the psalms and hymns of Isaac Watts had become increasingly popular among Baptist congregations. James Winchell, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Boston, published in 1818 An Arrangement of the Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of Dr. Watts. This collection, known as "Winchell's Watts," dominated Baptist hymn singing in New England for many years. Winchell acknowledged his indebtedness to John Rippon's arrangement of Watts which had been published in London in 1801. Rippon had removed the three divisions (books) set up originally by Watts which had been maintained in all printings up to this time, and the hymns were arranged according to subjects. "Rippon's Watts" was reprinted in Philadelphia in 1820, and became the most popular collection among Baptist churches in that area, while "Winchell's Watts" was almost universally accepted in New England.

      Watts's popularity among the Baptists may be further evidenced from the fact that many collections which appeared at this time were not intended to replace Watts but were designed as a supplement or appendix, providing additional hymns especially for Baptist use. Among these "appendix" collections produced by Baptists were the anonymous collection published at Burlington, New Jersey (1807), and compilations by Staughton (1807), Parkinson (1809), Collins (1812), and Ripley (1821). William Staughton, pastor of Philadelphia's First Baptist Church, and later president of Columbian College (1821-29), published an appendix to "Rippon's Watts" in 1813, using as his chief source John Newton and William Cowper's Olney Hymns (1779).

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[From William J. Reynolds, Hymns of our Faith, 1964, pp. xvii-xviii. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]