The Folio Book of Carols

This anthology reprints the words of Christmas and other seasonal carols, arranged by the century of composition and taken from the 1928 Oxford gathering associated with Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Martin Shaw. Typical pieces include medieval and early modern nativity songs, later hymns of winter worship, and folk carols of shepherds, the Magi, and the holly. Each carol appears as a lyric text without musical score. There is no narrative frame. The book is a chronological reader of carol verse, not a service book with tunes and not a history of church music.

Bound in green cloth cover blocked with a red and gilt design. Illustrated red slipcase. Gold endpapers.