Josiah Conder Biography

Josiah Conder, sometimes spelt Condor, (17 September 1789 - 27 December 1855), correspondent of Robert Southey and well connected to romantic authors of his day, was editor of the British literary magazine The Eclectic Review, the Nonconformist and abolitionist newspaper The Patriot, the author of romantic verses, poetry, and many popular hymns that survive to this day. His most ambitious non-fiction work was the thirty-volume worldwide geographical tome The Modern Traveller; and his best-selling compilation book The Congregational Hymn Book. In religious and political circles he was a prominent London Congregationalist, an abolitionist, and too an active part in seeking to repeal British anti-Jewish laws.

The fourth son of Thomas Conder, an active Nonconformist who worked in the City of London as an engraver and bookseller, Josiah was born on 17 September 1789 at his father's bookshop in Falcon Street. His grandfather was Dr John Conder, a Dissenting minister and President of Homerton College.

In his infancy, Josiah lost the vision in one eye due to smallpox. He was sent a few miles north of the City of London to the village of Hackney, for electrical treatment, a technique believed to be able to prevent the disease from spreading further to also cause blindness in his other eye. He recovered, and continued to be educated at a dissenting academy in Hackney village, under the tutorship of the Reverend Mr. Palmer.

At the age of ten his first essay were published in 'The Monthly Preceptor', and on reaching fifteen, he began work as an assistant in his family's City bookshop. On reaching the age of 21 (in 1811), he took over the family business. A short time later, Josiah married Joan Elizabeth Thomas ('Eliza Thomas'), one of his circle of friends with whom he had initially formed a literary association in 1810 to jointly contribute to the book, The Associate Minstrels.

Josiah Conder's work at the bookshop soon came to an end (c.1819), after wider recognition of his literary talents had led to him being offered the editorship of The Eclectic Review, a prestigious literary journal that he continued to edit for twenty years (1814-37). With strong Congregational links, he was also invited to edit The Patriot, a newspaper that espoused nonconformist and evangelical causes, and for which he was editor for twenty-three years (1832-55).

Although Josiah Conder never travelled abroad himself, he compiled all thirty volumes of The Modern Traveller', his non-fiction publishing epic covering the geography of many of countries of the world. It sold well, but was outsold by his Congregational Hymn Book, some 90,000 copies of which were ordered in its first seven years.

Amongst Josiah Conder's published works were:

* The Congregational Hymn Book, 1834

* The Modern Traveller, 1825-29

* The Withered Oak, 1805

* The Reverie, 1811

* The Star in the East, with Other Poems Chiefly Religious and Domestic, 1824

* Sacred Poems, Domestic Poems, and Miscellaneous Poems, 1824

* The Choir and the Oratory, 1836/7

* Analytical and Comparative View of All Religions Now Extant among Mankind, 1838

o This was a remarkable work in itself-- Conder was the first European writer to distinguish between different traditions of non-European religion.

* The Harmony of History with Prophecy, an explanation of the Apocalypse, 1849

* Hymns of Praise, Prayer, and Devout Meditation, 1856

* The Poet of the Sanctuary, I. Watts, 1851

* Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, with a Life of the Author by Josiah Conder, 1838

* Narrative of a Residence in South Africa by Thomas Pringle, with a Life of the Author by Josiah Conder, 1835

The Choir & The Oratory or Praise & Prayer, became noted for one poem, 'The Apocalypse', which earned him a place in English Romantic literature; its popularity prompted him to pen the commentary, The Harmony of History with Prophecy, and Explanation of the Apocalypse' for the more interested of his readers.

Amongst his hymns are the following:

* Baptized into Our Savior’s Death

* Be Merciful, O God of Grace

* Beyond, Beyond That Boundless Sea

* Blessed Be God, He Is Not Strict

* Bread of Heaven, on Thee We Feed

* Comrades of the Heavenly Calling

* Day by Day the Manna Fell

* Followers of Christ of Every Name

* Forever Will I Bless the Lord

* Grant Me, Heavenly Lord, to Feel

* Thou art the Everlasting Word

* 'Tis not that I did choose Thee

Considered to reflect his evangelical and liberal, nondenominational, outlook, these hymns were widely adopted by churches and chapels throughout the western world. By the early twentieth century, some seventy years after his death, one biographer noted that more of Josiah Conder's hymns were in common use in Britain and the USA, than those of any other Congregational author except for the great Dr Isaac Watts and his friend Doddridge. Today, electronic downloads are available for the more popular ones.